Ranker's Return

NEW NOVEL: First and foremost, I'm delighted to announce that our long-time veteran translator littleshanks has finally launched his new novel, Rise!  Rise is a novel about the esports scene in Shanghai, the competitive gaming capital of China. It follows the story of Lin Feng, a boy who has just moved to the city for his last year of high school. He's a passionate gamer and dreams of being the best professional League of Legends player in the world. The twist? He almost achieved his dream, but failed at the...

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“You!”

Due to Hyeonu’s provocation, Felion forgot to give the death knight a command and used black magic to cast an attack spell directly. He fired a black arrow made of black magic energy at Hyeonu. Hyeonu saw it and swung his sword. His black pure energy succeeded in splitting the black arrow. That was when Felion’s senses returned, and he realized that he had fallen for Hyeonu’s provocations.

‘Ah, really...’

Felion’s anger disappeared, and embarrassment took its place. This was an opponent that curse magic didn’t work on. Felion would’ve understood if it was a famous strongman like Lebron. However, this was an adventurer at most.

“How...” 

Felion set aside his questions and made his primary goal to get Hyeonu to kneel down.

‘He definitely knew Adele.’

It was related to the death of his apprentice.

“Pipi, make him unable to resist.”

Felion’s words ended there, and the death knight started to move as a shimmering light poured out of its helmet. The ghost horse supported the will of its master and moved quickly. In keeping with its name, the ghost horse didn’t run on the ground but moved around 10 cm above the ground. It was moving through the air.

‘Hit it first.’

Hyeonu calmly prepared his skills when he saw the death knight rushing toward him. It was an attack to determine the extent of the death knight’s stats. Hyeonu appeared in front of the death knight using Bash. Then he immediately used Heavy Blow. Hyeonu’s sword collided with the death knight’s sword. There was an incredible sound as the blades hit each other. It sounded like a collision between two shields.

Hyeonu frowned as he realized that he was pushed by the death knight. He was pushed back five steps while the death knight remained at the collision site.

‘It wouldn’t matter if it were one-on-one...’

The problem was that Hyeonu had to fight not only the death knight but Felion as well. The death knight was Felion’s summons, not a monster.

‘I am being pushed slightly?’

Hyeonu felt burdened since it was two against one. Still, this was only for a moment. He could also make it two against two.

“Tang-E, come out.” Hyeonu summoned Tang-E.

Tang-E was bewildered by the sudden summoning. Obviously, he had been using magic from the walls just a moment ago. Then as usual, a magic circle appeared under his feet. This was the result.

“Master dude, what’s going on? I was resting just now...” Tang-E questioned as he held onto Hyeonu’s leg.

It was because the monster in front of him was rushing toward him.

“I need your help. Take care of the magician over there. You don’t have to win. Just hold on until I handle the death knight. Call me if it is dangerous. I’ll summon you back.”

Tang-E was relieved by Hyeonu’s words. The opponent wasn’t the monster but the old human behind him. The old human seemed formidable, but that was it. The difference was great just based on the appearance.

‘I can do at least this much.’ Tang-E nodded at Hyeonu’s words. “Understood, Master dude.” 

Hyeonu stroked Tang-E’s head. “Okay, I’m depending on you.”

Tang-E fired dozens of ice spears at Felion the moment Hyeonu finished talking. Seeing Tang-E enter the fray, Hyeonu immediately focused on the death knight.

‘If I kill him, then I will have eaten the essence of the fifth main scenario from beginning to end.’

He just needed to deal with the death knight, and he could get the result he wanted. The goal which was hard at the beginning of the fifth main scenario—that elusive goal was right in front of him now.

[Giant’s Power has been used.]

[Your strength stat has increased.]

[Giant’s Nature has been used.]

[Your strength stat has increased.]

[One Who Yearns has been used.]

[All stats will increase.]

Hyeonu took out all his skills. He decided to finish the fight quickly. He thought that it would finish in five minutes at the earliest and ten minutes at the latest.

‘I don’t need to drag it out for a long time.’

If more NPCs of Brigs died, Hyeonu’s rewards would be reduced. Hyeonu’s movements changed from before. They became faster and more bizarre. His movements were like the wind. It was Mysterious Sky Steps. Hyeonu quickly approached the death knight and swung Dark Star.

The goal was the death knight’s shoulder. Since the opponent was an undead, there was no place on it that could be called a weak point. Of course, it would still die if its head were cut off or its body were cut in half. However, it was impossible to induce bleeding or restrict its movement like with living creatures. Hyeonu amplified his damage in a short period of time and struck the death knight’s shoulder with Heavy Blow. To be precise, it was actually a blow to the death knight’s sword which appeared instantaneously.

‘It was blocked?’

Hyeonu admired it. The death knight’s response was very swift. The death knight had received buffs from Felion, but Hyeonu’s level of attack was enough for him to move about in the Balder Mountains. Yet the death knight was fine. A portion of the death knight’s armor was broken in exchange for blocking Hyeonu’s attack. In other words, it couldn’t fully receive the fierce attack.

Hyeonu saw that and drove the death knight back even further like a storm. Hyeonu’s pure energy appeared and disappeared without a break. The more this happened, the more the death knight’s armor and the ghost horse’s armor lost their original form.

‘Why is it so weak?’

Hyeonu felt a bit uncomfortable. The death knights in other games weren’t so weak. Originally, death knights belonged to the top tier undead. Now this one was being pushed back by Hyeonu.

‘It isn’t much different from the dullahan?’

The gap between the dullahan and death knight was large, but the gap between the old Hyeonu and present Hyeonu was also large. Even so, the black magicians in the surroundings weren’t in a position to help the death knight fight Hyeonu. They immediately faced the paladins of the Temple of the Moon, including Daha, and the knights of Brigs, including Brown.

Then Hyeonu realized why the death knight was so weak. Usually, the undead used their master’s black magic energy. Perhaps the necromancer’s power was too fraudulent, so it was balanced by Quency.

‘The problem is that Felion is in combat. It seems he can’t accumulate black magic energy.’

The problem occurred here. Usually, Felion’s combat style would be the same. He would place the death knight in front of him, assist the death knight while checking the opponent, and attack if a gap was visible. However, Hyeonu had a very good pet called Tang-E. Once Tang-E focused on Felion, the magician couldn’t focus his black magic energy on the death knight.

Why? It was because he would die if he saved his black magic energy. Realizing this, Hyeonu started to pour out magic power generously. He wasn’t afraid of an undead who couldn’t recover as it was no different from a senseless monster.

‘The only difference is that it is a good fighter.’

Once Hyeonu briefly stopped attacking, the death knight attempted to fight back. The ghost horse charged toward Hyeonu. Simultaneously, the death knight’s sword quickly stabbed toward Hyeonu repeatedly. The death knight’s sword looked like it was split into seven.

Hyeonu calmly swung his sword. It moved in a circle accurately and prevented all of the death knight’s stabs. The death knight quickly recovered its sword and continued the next attack as if it had expected failure. The death knight’s sword, which was shining black, reached for Hyeonu again.

Hyeonu saw it and chose to counterattack instead. He stood still and seemed to have no intention of attacking the death knight. Then a black light also gathered around Hyeonu’s sword. By the time Hyeonu swung his sword, it had grown to nearly 10 meters in length.

Meanwhile, another sword emerged from the death knight’s sword. It was a sword made only of pure energy. The death knight fired it quickly. At the same time, the black energy was released from Hyeonu’s sword. The clash of the two energies was accompanied by a huge explosion.

The death knight’s sword energy sought to penetrate Hyeonu’s black pure energy. The result of the fierce battle was the crescent moon’s victory. Hyeonu’s slightly smaller pure energy tore apart the death knight’s ghost horse. It was a blow aimed at the death knight’s back, but the death knight had jumped off the ghost horse. The ghost horse was split into two, and it disappeared like smoke. The vanished ghost horse didn’t reappear. Perhaps Felion lacked the black magic energy to summon the ghost horse again.

“It is too bad,” Hyeonu lamented. If Crescent Moon Cut had hit the death knight, then it would’ve been a serious injury.

‘Still, shouldn’t I be glad I cleaned up the ghost horse?’

The ghost horse that was responsible for the death knight’s maneuverability had disappeared, so the death knight wouldn’t be able to move as fast as before. Hyeonu decided to be satisfied with this. Having gotten rid of the ghost horse, he would eventually also get rid of the death knight. Hyeonu was given a brief lull and turned his head to watch Tang-E fight Felion.

“Wow!” An exclamation flowed from Hyeonu’s mouth. “Is this a battle of magicians?”

The battle between Tang-E and Felion was spectacular. An ice spear flew, and a black thunderbolt fell from the sky. Black smoke covered all sides, and a brilliant fire burned the surrounding area. It wasn’t as fast and sharp as the battle between the death knight and Hyeonu, but it was colorful and full of dangerous feelings.

Meanwhile, Tang-E’s appearance changed. It transformed from a small cute figure to a giant bear that was four meters tall.

‘Master dude told me to hold on. I have to endure no matter what.’

On the surface, Tang-E and Felion seemed to be in similar positions, but in reality, Tang-E was being pushed slightly. A lot of his magic power had disappeared by now.

‘Stick to him and hold on.’

In the end, Tang-E made a change in his combat style. He was going to burn time through melee combat. The only thing in Tang-E’s head was that if he held out a bit longer, Master dude would come to help him eventually. The choice he made was an excellent decision. Tang-E roared with all of his magic power.

[The roar of pet ‘Tang-E’ has been heard.]

[Magic casting is forcibly canceled.]

[Attack power and defense are reduced by 16%.]

A scream burst from Felion’s mouth as his casting was interrupted, “Keok…!”

Simultaneously, the black magic energy recoiled. Tang-E’s roar also created an opportunity for Hyeonu. The death knight’s movements stopped momentarily. Perhaps it was due to the backlash in Felion’s black magic energy, but the black magic energy used by the death knight was cut off for a moment. Hyeonu didn’t miss this great opportunity.

‘Mysterious Sky Range.’

Hyeonu’s sword moved at a speed that couldn’t be seen. As a result, dozens of streams of pure energy hit the death knight. In the place where the storm of pure energy passed, the death knight stood with its sword in the ground. Then after a while, there was a loud boom as the death knight’s body exploded.

It was the end of the death knight.

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