The Return of the Genius Ranker’s Myth Warehouse - Chapter 345

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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 345
Chapter 345
Objectively speaking, individual Cronion soldiers possessed inferior physical abilities compared to Imperial Army troops.
Yet Cronion could hold its own against the Empire precisely because of the equipment they wore.
Sturdy iron armor.
Firearms capable of unleashing devastating power with merely a trigger pull.
Because of this reliance on equipment, their individual physical prowess and senses were correspondingly diminished.
Whoosh!
None possessed the skill to catch me as I darted between shadows.
They couldn’t even detect that I was running along their own shadows.
Their basic sensory perception was poor to begin with, and the iron armor dulled their awareness further.
Thanks to this.
‘It’s bigger than I thought.’
I managed to approach the mechanical beast.
It had appeared colossal from a distance, but seeing it up close, its sheer scale exceeded my expectations.
I found myself wondering where they’d sourced such quantities of iron and what kind of power source was needed to move something of this magnitude.
Recalling that the mechanical weapons were charged with mana stones, I suspected this mechanical beast would require at least a high-grade mana stone to operate.
‘Could I even hack it?’
As I briefly considered the formulas, I shook my head.
My Dark Link, designed specifically for hacking, couldn’t penetrate a mechanical beast of this size.
Using an Eternal Crystal might make it possible, but that would dramatically extend the hacking duration.
Moreover, for a mechanical beast of this magnitude.
Inserting the mana stone into the vital point, recalculating the formula, infusing high-grade mana stone-level mana to complete the hack….
‘I’d need to hold on to the chip for at least ten minutes.’
That won’t work.
Burrowing through to the chip itself would be difficult enough, and there’s no way the mechanical beast would remain docile for ten minutes while I’m attached to it.
It would thrash about trying to dislodge me, and if it sprayed Black Flame at the Imperial Army and users in the meantime.
Catastrophic casualties would mount within those ten minutes.
So rather than getting greedy, the best course is to destroy it outright and feed it to Luke.
The moment I reached this conclusion.
“ROOOOOOOOOOOAR-!!”
The mechanical beast’s roar echoed once more.
With the distance closed, the volume was absolutely deafening.
The grating metallic screech felt like it would rupture my eardrums.
If it were merely annoying, I could brush it off.
But then.
The problem was the mechanical beast’s gaze.
Its eyes, radiating presence as it spread its wings, were locked directly on me.
This was no coincidence.
I’d been discovered.
Those violet eyes—were they equipped with some kind of identification device?
Despite my extraordinary concealment, hidden within the shadows, it had pinpointed my exact location.
In that instant.
Screech.
The mechanical beast’s maw, forged from razor-sharp blades, yawned open.
Roooaaarrr!
Black flames—reminiscent of a dragon’s breath—erupted forth.
Since I was moving concealed within the shadows of Cronion soldiers, my surroundings were packed with both their troops and mechanical weapons.
Those black flames were undoubtedly an area-of-effect attack that would engulf not just me, but everything around me.
Yet they unleashed the Black Flame without the slightest concern for their own allies.
It was no wonder Cronion earned the epithet “Tyranny Nation.”
Regardless, the moment I tried to devise a strategy to block or evade the Black Flame—
– You need not worry.
Luke’s voice reached me.
– Have you not always been shrouded in my Black Flame? A mere counterfeit, a pale imitation of true Black Flame. There is nothing to fear.
Luke spoke with absolute conviction.
That I need not fear the Black Flame.
Had it been anyone else hearing such words, they would have trembled at the prospect of facing that inferno head-on.
“I trust you, Luke.”
But I was not them.
Was this not Luke, who had stood beside me from First until now?
I trusted Luke.
And so, rather than blocking or evading the Black Flame—
Whoosh!
I charged directly into it.
And in doing so—
[ Activating Black Flame Transformation. ]
[ Borrowing the power of the Black Flame Dragon, Lucknir Desperate Ignoxtan. ]
[ Entering Black Flame Rampage state. ]
I activated Black Flame Transformation.
Luke’s Black Flame engulfed my body.
And moments later, above me—
Roooaaarrrrr!!
The mechanical beast’s Black Flame descended upon me.
The Black Flame did not stop there, cascading downward to consume the entire battlefield.
“Ahhhhhhh!”
“W-why us too!”
“It’s burning!”
“Someone help!”
The Cronion soldiers and—
Ssssshhh—.
The mechanical weapons melted away.
Since the Black Flame’s range was far wider than expected, countless Cronion soldiers and mechanical weapons were engulfed by the Black Flame.
As a result, the landscape of the battlefield transformed into a horrific scene in an instant.
Our own forces suffered tremendous casualties from attacks by mechanical weapons that couldn’t even be called the enemy—they were our own.
The soldiers nearby who hadn’t been caught in the attack were also hesitating, trying to distance themselves from the gruesome scene.
The moment the Black Flame that had claimed so many lives began to fade.
Whoosh!
I burst free from the dissipating Black Flame and leaped toward the mechanical dragon.
The mechanical dragon had certainly unleashed its Black Flame directly at me.
Yet not even the smallest wound appeared on my body.
Luke’s words had been the truth.
The Black Flame spewed by the mechanical dragon could not harm me, Luke’s master.
Had this been the past, I might have sustained some damage.
But now that I had acquired Luke’s bones and scales, gaining perfect resistance to Black Flame, no Black Flame could ever harm me.
“Roooaaarrr—!”
Thus I arrived before the mechanical dragon.
It could never have imagined that I would charge through its Black Flame and appear before it.
No, this situation didn’t exist in the programming input into the mechanical dragon.
Because of that, toward the creature that had momentarily frozen in place.
[ Spear of the War God, Enkespalos ]
( Non-tradeable )
Type : Spear
Grade : Mythic
Requirement : Level 1,000 or higher, Seal of Ares, Strength 4,000 or higher
Description : The spear of Ares, the War God known as one of the Twelve Deities of Olympus.
A Mythic-grade weapon with a 1,000 level restriction.
I drew the Spear of the War God, Enkespalos.
– Using 6-Circle Lightning Magic ‘Giga Lightning’.
The 6-Circle magic I had prepared while charging through the creature’s Black Flame.
Unlike Lightning Rain, a ranged spell, I infused Enkespalos with Giga Lightning—a powerful single-target lightning magic.
– Using the skill ‘Silver Bird Soul Chase’.
Even employing a Mythic-grade throwing skill.
Boom!
I hurled it toward the mechanical dragon’s gaping maw.
* * *
The Central Front commander of Cronion.
He cheered as he watched mechanical weapons explode the moment ‘Hellfire’ sortied.
“Indeed, it is Hellfire! I never imagined Hellfire’s roar possessed such power!”
The man called the Demon of the Empire.
The mechanical weapons that man had seized were proving to be quite troublesome.
After all, they were Cronion’s core weapons, so difficulty was only natural.
But then.
All those mechanical weapons exploded in a single roar from Hellfire.
Our mechanical weapons were reinforced, while the stolen ones detonated—what a disparity.
I had always known of the former’s capabilities, but the latter was something I was witnessing for the first time.
In truth, it was an ability I would have remained ignorant of my entire life had it not been for that ‘Demon of the Empire.’
But then.
“The Demon of the Empire has infiltrated our soldiers’ ranks!”
“Capture him at once! Fool! How dare he slip into our formation! It’s like throwing himself into a Beehive alone!”
The Demon of the Empire suddenly charged forward.
Directly toward where Hellfire stood.
What could his objective be?
Could he possibly be attempting to bring down Hellfire?
Ay, that’s absurd.
Even the Imperial Knights had retreated, unable to contend with Hellfire.
And now this man charges alone into Cronion’s Frontline to defeat such a being?
It was nothing short of suicide.
Regardless of his objective, I expected him to be captured by our valiant soldiers before he could even reach Hellfire.
“We cannot apprehend him!”
“What do you mean! He’s within our formation, yet you cannot capture a single man?”
“It’s not that capture is difficult—we cannot even determine his location!”
“What kind of foolish nonsense is that!”
It was true.
Not only could we not capture the Demon of the Empire, we could not even locate him.
The Command Headquarters faced the same predicament.
Despite employing every detection tool at our disposal, we could not ascertain the demon’s position.
Then, at that moment.
“Kroooooooooooooo-!!”
Hellfire’s roar echoed across the field.
Hellfire’s gaze fixed upon something.
Naturally, the Command Headquarters, including the commander, followed Hellfire’s line of sight, and there—
“There he is!”
“As expected of Hellfire! Such detection capabilities were installed!”
“Truly, the supreme mechanical weapon created by the Lord!”
There stood the man known as the Demon of the Empire.
Perhaps he had not anticipated being discovered.
Or perhaps he was too overwhelmed by Hellfire’s overwhelming presence to maintain his composure.
He could no longer hide, standing frozen in place.
Then.
Crack.
Hellfire’s maw gaped open.
The commander could not help but be flustered.
“Wait….”
There was no way he didn’t know.
That was Hellfire’s exclusive technique.
An attack that no other mechanical weapon could use—only Hellfire could unleash it.
The very source that had allowed the Empire’s frontline to be pushed back this far.
Black Flame.
When he first witnessed that black flame, it had been powerful enough to make the commander’s jaw drop, but therein lay the problem in this moment.
“No!”
Specifically, the range of that black flame.
The black flame possessed a range and power that exceeded even high-circle magic.
Hellfire had locked onto the Demon of the Empire with precision, but all around him swarmed Cronion soldiers and mechanical weapons.
Yet before the commander could stop it.
“Everyone, get clear!”
Roooaarrr!!
Hellfire unleashed the black flame.
The commander’s cry was swallowed by the vicious roar of the black flame’s discharge.
Immediately after, countless soldiers and mechanical weapons melted away beneath the black flame.
The Demon of the Empire had been struck down, but the elite soldiers and elite mechanical weapons at the center of the frontline suffered catastrophic losses.
This was no trivial matter.
As the commander despaired.
Something even more despairing occurred.
Whoosh!
From within that scorching black flame.
The Demon of the Empire emerged.
Moreover, his body bore not a single blister nor even the smallest wound.
And the Demon of the Empire, having appeared thus.
Roooaarrr!!
Hurled a spear toward Hellfire’s throat.
Hellfire possessed overwhelming defensive power befitting its colossal size, but the durability of its internal structure was inevitably inferior by comparison.
And into Hellfire’s throat.
Thwuuuk!
The long spear drove deep, its haft disappearing from sight.
This was not the end.
Crackle crackle crackle!!
Electricity visible to the naked eye.
Dozens of lightning bolts condensed into a single devastating current that engulfed Hellfire’s entire body.
This was dangerous.
If the internal circuitry were to burn out, the affected sections would be destroyed.
And if the chip itself were to burn?
Hellfire had a powerful defensive system implanted around its chip, so such a thing shouldn’t be possible, but if the chip were to burn out, Hellfire’s operations could cease entirely.
Fortunately, however, Hellfire endured the Demon of the Empire’s assault just as Cronion had anticipated.
It even withstood the electrical current, moving its body to launch a counterattack.
“Impossible!”
The black flames erupting from Hellfire’s entire body?
They had no effect on the Demon of the Empire.
The slashing claws?
Easily evaded.
The tremendous wind pressure generated by Hellfire’s wing beats was effortlessly withstood as the counterattack continued relentlessly.
At this, the commander—having completely forgotten the soldiers who had melted into pools of blood moments before—felt an intense sense of dread.
“Hellfire is in danger!”
Unlikely as it seemed, if the Demon of the Empire were to defeat Hellfire like this…
It would be over.
The Empire’s military strength would be severely diminished, and the frontline would surely collapse in an instant.
I cannot afford to lose Hellfire here.
With that, the commander issued orders to the soldiers trembling in fear as they watched the surroundings melted away by Hellfire.
“Bring down the Demon of the Empire! Fire your guns, launch grenades, detonate explosives! No—even if it costs your lives, you must seize and restrain the demon!”

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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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