Ranker's Return

“How can we hunt that?”

A skeleton holding a head...

Jewel lamented when he saw the dullahan.

“Was New World the first one to kill it?”

“The monk army won against it. It took around three hours?”

“There were around 20 of them?”

“Yes. With the addition of that orc, we only have eight people, and I am the only priest.”

“We’re screwed.”

“Yes.”

Maha and Nix exchanged jokes. Their words were cheerful, but the reality was that they were on the verge of logging out. They were in a poor state.

“We still have to fight until we die. Additionally, my magic power is full.”

“Isn’t it natural? In any case, you’re a healing machine. Just keep healing.”

“I also have attack skills. Shall I use God’s Calling once?”

“It is a waste of divine power. You can restore Ket’s health five times using that divine power, you idiot.”

At this moment, the expression in their eyes became serious. It was because Alley Leader, the orc, Ket, and Jewel had started the raid against the dullahan.

***

A dullahan was a dullahan after all. As a top undead, it didn’t retreat despite being attacked by four people.

“If it wasn’t for the curse, that skeleton would’ve...” Cancun felt his burden increase as the battle continued. Every time he used magic, he felt the curse spread across his body. He wouldn’t have been able to fight this far if it wasn’t for the help of the small friend. However, now he had reached his limit. “Human, I am at my limit. The curse has spread too much.”

Hyeonu looked Cancun over. It was serious. The curse couldn’t be hidden even with the orc’s fur clothes. The life had already been sucked out of the orc’s left hand.

“Go rest next to Tang-E. I’ll finish it soon.”

“I understand, human.” 

In the short time that Hyeonu and Cancun talked, Ket and Jewel were in danger. Only two out of the four people were blocking the dullahan, so the burden was heavy. In particular, Ket and Jewel didn’t have much magic power and divine power left, so their skills couldn’t be properly used.

“I’m sorry,” Hyeonu apologized and joined the battle again. There was no time to lose after finding out Cancun’s serious condition as he didn’t know when the curse would completely spread through Cancun’s body. Hyeonu had to kill the dullahan and then the lich as quickly as possible.

“Starting from now, give me five minutes. I’ll stop it on my own. The others will recover their magic power.”

Hyeonu had leveled up in the process of killing the skeletons, so he had relatively more magic power than the others. There was also Tang-E’s buffs, so he thought it would be enough after receiving the priest’s buffs.

“If you buff me, I’ll stop the dullahan for five minutes.”

A one-on-one fight was started between Hyeonu and the dullahan.

***

[You have received divine energy.]

[Your weapon is filled with a high divine power.]

[Attack power has increased.]

[You have received the goddess’ blessing.]

[All stats will increase.]

[Movement speed has increased.]

[You have been protected by courage.]

[Attack power has increased.]

[Defense has increased.]

The buffs of a priest who finished their second class advancement were amazing. Hyeonu now knew why people became priests.

‘The buffs seem as good as Tang-E’s buffs.’

After being buffed by Maha, Hyeonu rushed straight at the dullahan. He didn’t forget to use the giant skills.

[Giant’s Power has been used.]

[Your strength stat has increased.]

[Giant’s Nature has been used.]

[Your strength stat has increased.]

‘I will pour it all out for five minutes. There is no other way.’

The dullahan was definitely a tough opponent. However, there were people behind Hyeonu this time. This made Hyeonu’s mind more relaxed. Hyeonu’s body was as light as a feather, but the results weren’t light. The dullahan lifted its skull and blocked Hyeonu’s attack. Then the skull cracked finely.

Hyeonu’s damage was now more than that of many rankers. There were five buffs, including the giant skills. Since there was the sword energy, even a simple blow couldn’t be ignored. Hyeonu didn’t stop here. He moved exquisitely and placed Lich Cardum behind the dullahan. Then he used Crescent Moon Cut, which was reinforced with Heavy Blow. It meant that if the dullahan dodged, its master—Cardum—would be hit.

‘Avoidance... Master is behind me.’ The dullahan stopped.

It clearly wanted to avoid the attack, but its master, Cardum, was behind it. Consequently, the dullahan was forced to block Hyeonu’s attack. It would be impossible for Lich Cardum to react in time to dodge.

“This weak guy, I’m going to kill you!!” The dullahan was furious.

‘By the way, is he actually a boss monster?’ This question was raised in Hyeonu’s mind. Was the dullahan just summoned by the lich the same as the dullahan who had been acting as a gatekeeper for a month? Maybe it was a normal dullahan, not a boss monster? There was no way a boss’ weapon and armor could break so soon.

‘Then...’

“I alone am sufficient.”

Hyeonu rushed back toward the dullahan.

***

Hyeonu’s sword once again targeted the dullahan’s skull.

‘It broke again.’

Hyeonu’s guess was right. It was half a gamble, but in the end, it was good. The dullahan summoned by Lich Cardum was just a normal monster.

‘Well, isn’t it impossible for an instance dungeon boss to summon a raid boss monster?’ 

However, Hyeonu didn’t want to let others know this fact. He planned to shoot a video of him holding off the dullahan alone. That would bring his channel to life before the Masked Fighting King. Hyeonu’s sword moved brilliantly. He was no longer afraid of the regular monster called the dullahan. His actions were bold and daring now.

Hyeonu’s longsword quickly struck the dullahan’s bone armor. It was impossible to break through straight away. However, the damage was maximized using the effects of large techniques such as Crescent Moon Cut. He kept striking.

“You—!”

Of course, the dullahan didn’t just accept the beating. It swung its skull in one hand and its mace in the other. However, it only cut through air. It wasn’t easy to hit Hyeonu. Rather, Hyeonu succeeded in counterattacking twice.

“Ahh!!” The dullahan howled, but nothing happened. Why? The dullahan wasn’t a boss monster. So, it didn’t have any fear skills. It was just a little bit harder, faster, and stronger than other normal monsters.

“Why are you bluffing?” Hyeonu said as he poured out more magic power. The duration of the giant skills had reached the turning point. The time had come to go all-in. Hyeonu used Crescent Moon Cut once more. Then once again, Cardum was behind the dullahan. It was an amazing thing Hyeonu had planned.

The dullahan didn’t block Hyeonu’s move, nor did it dodge. It just swung its mace as hard as possible. The mace’s dark energy collided with Hyeonu’s sword energy. There was a roar from the surroundings, and the winner was Hyeonu’s sword energy. It was less powerful than the first sword energy but sword energy was still sword energy. The dullahan’s armor was crushed.

“Why are you trying to interrupt? God’s Calling!”

“Ice Spear!”

“Hammer of Judgment!”

Meanwhile, a battle was taking place where Cardum was standing. The Pioneer Guild members rejoined the battle after seeing Cardum aim a cursed spear at Hyeonu. The cursed spear vanished under the divine magic of the priest Maha and the paladin Jewel.

“How...”

“How? Isn’t it divine power? No wonder why it is incomparable to crappy black magic.”

“Additionally, that spear isn’t your magic, right?”

They were of opposing attributes, with Cursed Spear being black magic power and God’s Calling Hammer of Judgment being divine power. The most decisive factor which made Cursed Spear inferior to God’s Calling and Hammer of Judgment was that it was a skill attached to an artifact. The caster couldn’t make corrections. It was just a spear with a certain effect, and it couldn’t be reinforced or applied in different ways. This was why the cursed spear disappeared in vain.

“Don’t just watch. We’ll finish it quickly.”

Various magic started to fly toward Cardum. A few minutes of rest was long enough to drink potions.

***

Hyeonu had an instinctive thought when he saw Lich Cardum start a battle with the Pioneer Guild. Now was the perfect opportunity to kill the dullahan. Cardum’s use of magic would surely reduce the magic power used for the dullahan. It meant the dullahan’s power would soon weaken.

“One minute.”

The giant skills had one minute remaining. It was enough time for Hyeonu to beat the dullahan. Hyeonu struck two places persistently—the dullahan’s skull and armor. Both the half-broken skull and cracked armor were now weaknesses for the dullahan. It was part of the basics to target the prey’s weak points during a hunt. Hyeonu intended to practice the basics. 

There was a result after 30 seconds.

The dullahan’s skull was finally broken.

“I will finish it now,” Hyeonu said brutally as his longsword fell toward the dullahan. The dullahan’s shield was already broken while its skull and bone armor were on the verge of breaking. The only things that could stop Hyeonu were its mace and poor bone body. Now even its mace was neatly cut apart by Hyeonu’s sword energy.

‘Cardum didn’t deliver the magic power on time. This is a good time to kill it.’

All that was left was for Hyeonu to crush that shabby skull.

“This is the last one!!”

The cooldown of Crescent Moon Cut was over. A giant sword energy passed through the dullahan’s body.

[A dullahan has been killed.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

[You have leveled up.]

[All health and magic power have been restored.]

[The skill proficiency of Weapons Mastery has increased to D+.]

.

.

.

[The skill proficiency of Master of Combat has increased to D.]

The amount of experience that the dullahan gave was great. It was a monster that was level 150 after all. However, that wasn’t all. Each of Hyeonu’s skills had gone up one rank. This was the system’s reward for killing the dullahan.

***

Lich Cardum was baffled by the sudden return of magic power. The magic power he accumulated in the dungeon had already run out.

‘What magic power is this?’

“Don’t tell me...? The dullahan?” Cardum turned his head and looked at the place where the dullahan should be. There was nothing, only the remnants of a battle. Cardum judged the situation with as much composure as possible. However, nothing was seen. At this moment, Cardum felt a foreign sensation at his neck. He slowly lowered his head. The only thing visible was a long sword.

“Good bye.”

Lich Cardum’s life vessel necklace shattered. Lich Cardum also broke apart.

[Lich Cardum has been killed.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

[You have leveled up.]

[All health and magic power have been restored.]

Indeed, a boss was a boss. Hyeonu had just leveled up, but the vast amount of experience given by a level 150 boss was enough for him to level up once again.

‘The video will be hot.’

Hyeonu smiled brightly at the fallen Cardum. In his eyes, Cardum looked like gold instead of a skeleton.

...A golden skeleton!