The Return of the Genius Ranker’s Myth Warehouse - Chapter 303

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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 303
Chapter 303
That night.
[ Alchemy has failed. ]
I watched an enormous number of mana stones slip through my fingers as I tasted failure in alchemy once more.
[ Alchemy has failed. ]
[ Alchemy has failed. ]
….
Even across all of First, I couldn’t recall experiencing such consecutive failures in alchemy.
The desert night lay silent and still.
While every warrior had surrendered to deep sleep, my tent alone continued to shimmer with the azure glow of alchemical light.
I remained awake, logged into the game day and night without rest.
At this point, the fatigue from reality should have bled into the game as well.
‘This is exhilarating.’
My mind had never felt sharper than it did now.
Though exhaustion was undoubtedly accumulating, my thoughts felt clearer than ever before.
Thanks to the knowledge and items I’d acquired in First, I’d encountered few obstacles since arriving in Second.
But this new challenge—repeating failure after failure—breathed fresh vitality into me.
[ Alchemy has failed. ]
[ Alchemy has failed. ]
….
I continued alchemy with relentless fervor.
I wasn’t combining materials haphazardly.
I was mobilizing every scrap of experience and knowledge I’d accumulated across First and Second.
I tested promising combinations by leveraging my expertise in alchemy and various items to their fullest.
My personal storage contained materials beyond count.
The alchemical tools I wielded were even of Legendary grade, allowing my research to proceed without interruption.
Was this the state of absolute immersion—losing oneself entirely in the work?
I became so absorbed in my labor that such thoughts arose.
And so, as the moon descended toward the horizon.
As dawn broke.
“Done….”
[ First Alchemy Success Achieved. ]
[ Judgment: Transcendent Success ]
At last, I had achieved what I desired.
I had succeeded in crafting a reusable premium-grade mana stone.
I gazed contentedly at the mana stone gleaming brilliantly in my palm and checked its Item Information.
[ Eternal Crystal ]
Form: Mana Stone
Grade: Legendary
Restriction: Player Mir
Description: A rechargeable supreme magic stone created by charging magic stones centered around a supreme magic stone, allowing it to be reused.
Eternal Crystal.
That was the name of the ‘rechargeable supreme magic stone’ I had created.
With this, I could continue using supreme magic stones without consuming them as one-time expendables.
Of course, to enhance its performance, a restriction emerged that only I could use it.
Once activated, the mana would be completely depleted, and I would need to wait for natural recharging or manually infuse mana myself before it could be used again.
‘The efficiency isn’t terrible, though.’
The materials used were numerous magic stones centered around a supreme magic stone.
It was wasteful, certainly, but far better than the combination method of merging the lowest-grade magic stones to create a supreme magic stone.
If I were to retrofit all my supreme magic stones into ‘Eternal Crystals’ this way.
I could use the mana of supreme magic stones as freely as I wished.
Marveling at this, I was trying to catch a brief moment of sleep before the expedition departed.
Boom!
The ground trembled suddenly, and at the same moment.
“Monsters!”
“Monsters have appeared!”
“Everyone, wake up!”
The urgent voices of warriors began to ring out.
I too emerged from the mobile tent, gripping the ‘Eternal Crystal’ I had just created.
What came into view was.
“Kyaaaaaaah!”
A massive legion of monsters covering the entire Desert.
* * *
As the moon descended and the sun rose once more.
“Monsters!”
The warriors hastily formed their combat formation.
The appearance of monsters.
Since all of them were Desert dwellers born and raised in the Desert, this was not their first encounter with such a situation.
Being ambushed by monsters while camping in the Desert was hardly a rare occurrence.
Yet despite this, the atmosphere among the warriors remained grim.
Whoooosh!
“Desert Worm!”
Desert Worms surging up from beneath the sand.
Desert Worms were originally known as colossal monsters that moved and hunted alone or in small groups.
But dozens of such monsters were now rising up, surrounding the warriors.
“There are more!”
Appearing between those Desert Worms was an enormous number of Desert monsters.
Ferocious Desert wolves.
Desert scorpions crawling forth, dripping with deadly venom.
Sand Walkers and Sand Golems composed entirely of sand, growing larger with each movement.
Truly, an incalculable number of monsters.
It seemed as though every monster in the Desert had mobilized to prevent the conquest of the Great Pyramid.
Their numbers were so vast that the horizons in all directions were completely obscured by the swarm.
“In the sky too!”
“Damn it!”
The heavens were no different.
From the shrill-crying Desert Hawks to the rough-skinned Desert Wyverns.
Countless flying monsters dominated the sky, hovering like vultures circling a corpse.
No matter how many of the Desert’s greatest Grand Warriors and Grand Sorcerers had gathered here, this was beyond their reach.
Their forces might be halved before even reaching the Great Pyramid.
Yet until this moment, they had only anticipated significant casualties—none had imagined complete annihilation.
Everyone gathered here was among the Desert’s elite, and they believed that united, they could somehow achieve victory or survive.
But then.
“ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOO—!”
A roar that overwhelmed all other monsters, a savage cry that made every grain of sand in the Desert tremble.
With it came the unfurling of colossal wings, ascending to blot out the rising sun.
“A dragon…!”
“A dragon, you say!”
“This is impossible! Dragons were all extinct long ago!”
“B-but! That’s unmistakably a dragon!”
“The Desert’s ruler from ancient legend! The Desert Dragon!”
“The Desert Dragon….”
From legend.
No—from myth itself, the ancient ruler of the Desert.
The Desert Dragon.
The moment its form appeared, despair seized the warriors.
Their grip weakened on their swords, and the incantations they had been chanting ceased.
No matter how formidable these Desert warriors were, it was impossible to fell a mythical Desert Dragon alongside this countless horde.
What could be done?
Did the Desert truly deny the existence of its people and seek to submerge the Great Desert entirely?
Was this the Desert’s fate?
“Does the Sun of the Desert truly desire our destruction….”
In that moment of despair.
A man climbed to the highest hill surrounding the encampment.
That man’s identity was.
“Commander!”
The commander of the conquest force.
The Grand Warrior who had proven his strength by winning the Grand Warrior Selection Tournament.
The righteous outsider who had defeated the Evil God and the Assassin, restoring peace to the Desert.
It was Mir.
Yet even with my appearance, the atmosphere did not shift.
Everyone here acknowledged my superior strength, but in the end, I was merely a single human.
There was no defeating the Desert Dragon.
Then.
“What is that…?”
Something materialized in my hand as I stood atop the hill.
A bow of luminous, iridescent radiance.
Gripping the bowstring, I channeled power into the magic stone held in my opposite hand.
Immediately, an arrow of five-colored light began to form along the bowstring.
“Surely not….”
In the moment when all had surrendered.
I alone drew forth the bow, drawing back the string with deliberate force.
Could I possibly be attempting to shoot the Desert Dragon with such a diminutive weapon?
In the instant when everyone dismissed it as absurdity.
The magic stone’s mana was entirely consumed, and the arrow, blazing with equally intense luminescence.
Pierced the air!
It soared toward the Desert Dragon.
“Kuoooooo!”
The Desert Dragon unleashed its breath.
A savage breath as though the desert’s calamity—a sandstorm—had been condensed to its absolute limit.
Yet the arrow I had released passed through that breath entirely unaffected, advancing relentlessly.
Thunk!
It embedded itself between the Desert Dragon’s eyes.
Impressive archery, but this was surely the limit.
A minuscule arrow lodging itself between the Desert Dragon’s eyes would never bring it down.
Everyone believed precisely this.
“T-the Desert Dragon!”
The Desert Dragon began to vanish.
From the point where the arrow had struck, the Desert Dragon’s form completely dissolved.
But that was not all.
“Kyuuuuu-.”
“Kiiieeeek!”
The flying-type monsters—Desert Hawks and Desert Wyverns—that had been circling beneath the Desert Dragon.
Not stopping there, every terrestrial monster, including the Desert Worms, vanished entirely.
“Unbelievable….”
Witnessing this, the warriors could not help but think.
The doubt that even the Alliance Leader’s firm declaration had failed to completely dispel.
That I was the sole hero who had defeated the Evil God, eliminated the Assassins, conquered the Great Pyramid, and alone could halt its descent—they could no longer deny it.
* * *
Monsters appeared abruptly.
More than anything, a Desert Dragon emerged, blotting out the sun.
Even the sensitive Grand Mages failed to notice.
– Master.
“Yes, I see it too.”
Through my vision synchronized with Luke’s draconic eyes, it was visible.
Though even this didn’t grant me complete understanding.
At least these monsters.
No, the true nature of this phenomenon—I could discern it.
“A mirage.”
A desert illusion born from light refraction in unstable atmospheric layers.
It was a mirage.
Or rather, to be precise, not a true mirage at all.
A mirage refers to a phenomenon where objects appear at different locations than their actual positions due to light refraction.
It couldn’t possibly gather every monster from across the entire desert to create false movements, nor could it recreate a non-existent creature like a Desert Dragon.
And the monster’s roar I was hearing now—that was even more impossible to replicate.
I couldn’t know for certain, but I suspected this was the first gateway leading toward the Great Pyramid.
With that thought.
Thud, thud.
I climbed toward the highest dune visible in my surroundings.
And then.
[ Black Flame Transformation is activated. ]
[ Borrowing the power of ‘Black Flame Dragon, Luknir Desperato Ignockton’. ]
Upon activating Black Flame Transformation.
Synchronized more powerfully with Luke, my enhanced draconic vision revealed the mirage’s true nature with crystalline clarity.
An illusion woven from concentrated desert mana.
An illusion that couldn’t simply be dismissed.
Since it was composed of mana, as long as one believed it real, its strikes would land with genuine force.
Warriors convinced of this phenomenon’s reality would fall to the phantom’s assault.
‘I can see it.’
There was something else visible.
The location where the sun was rising.
The center of the mirage, visible near the Desert Dragon’s head.
If I could shatter that center, I could break the mirage without confronting the illusions themselves.
With that thought.
[ Veil Piercer, Piercer of Veils ]
( Non-Tradeable )
Form: Bow
Grade: Legendary
Restriction: Level 800 or higher, Bow Mastery Lv 80 or higher, Wisdom 1,000 or higher
Description: An ancient legendary phantom artifact that pierces through all illusions in the world and strikes at the truth itself.
I drew forth an item capable of shattering mirages.
However, there was a problem.
Like most ancient relics, this ‘Veil Piercer’ also required mana stones.
Especially to shatter such a colossal mirage, I needed mana stones of an extraordinarily high grade.
And.
A low hum resonated.
In my hand now lay the premium-grade charging mana stone I had just created.
‘Eternal Crystal’ existed.
A brilliant flash erupted!
The Veil Piercer began absorbing the mana from the Eternal Crystal.
The five-hued arrow that formed grew deeper with each pulse of absorbed mana, until it had consumed it all and blazed forth in seven colors like a rainbow itself.
To this, I added.
– I activate the 5-Circle White Magic ‘Illusion Break’.
Weaving the illusion-dispelling magic into the arrow with my Arcane Blade.
– I activate the skill ‘Silver Bird Soul Pursuit’.
I released the arrow toward the heart of the mirage.
The Desert Dragon unleashed its breath, but such illusory attacks would not touch that arrow.
Thanks to that, without any resistance, the arrow pierced the Desert Dragon’s brow.
In other words, the very center of the mirage.
A soft, cascading sound echoed.
The First Gate leading to the Great Pyramid.
The desert’s mirage began to scatter and dissolve.

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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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