Second Life Ranker

Yeon-woo stepped inside a portal. As he did, darkness filled his vision. Swoosh! When he activated his Holy Fire, the darkness shifted back to reveal a large space with high ceilings.

Clack! Clack! Clack! The undead moved around busily in the space. Skeletons hung from the ceiling and the walls casting magic circles, while ghouls and zombies ran around carrying materials to be used to cast the magic circles. Flying banshees and specters appeared to fix things that weren’t working properly, reaching into places that the others couldn’t.

Boom! Boom! Boom! A stone golem walked past with materials of iron on its back. 

‘It’s basically a dungeon.’ Yeon-woo smiled wryly. With the undead, ghost monsters, and the golem, the only thing lacking was a depressing atmosphere to make it look like a dungeon from an RPG game.

The space was inside the Intrenian weapons room which he’d received from the Bureau. He’d ordered the weapons to be moved to the treasure room so that Boo could use this space as his lab, as well as a space to store the supplies, books, and materials he’d taken from Walpurgisnacht. Yeon-woo couldn’t just leave them lying around anymore and needed to organize them.

Also, Boo had grown rapidly after absorbing the Philosopher’s Stones and the souls of the witches, and as his level increased, his identity and consciousness slowly returned. He seemed to want a lab, and it made sense since magicians sought the truth until their deaths, and Liches retained that quality.

To advance his research, Boo needed a lab of his own, and since he was second to none in terms of loyalty, Yeon-woo gave him an Intrenian. Even though Boo didn’t speak much, Yeon-woo was aware that he would easily sacrifice his life at Yeon-woo’s command. He was grateful for this and hoped Intrenian was a sufficient reward.

‘It’s a good thing I gave it to him.’ Boo had summoned about a hundred of the undead to get to work. Magic circles glowed on the ceiling and walls, and he had set up different equipment in different sections. 

Yeon-woo only recognized them from his research on the Philosopher’s Stone or as things he’d taken from the witches, but he didn’t know anything beyond that. The Summer Queen herself had created Intrenian, and even with all the undead moving around, there was still plenty of room.

A thought occurred to Yeon-woo. ‘If this is going to be a dungeon anyway, wouldn’t it be more efficient if I expanded the size?” However, his plans for the dungeon were interrupted.

「Hey, you’re here, Master?」

「This dragon’s subspace is definitely impressive in size.」

「Don’t ask me to do this ever again. And that Lich, he seems so easygoing on the outside, when did he get so fussy?」

Shanon, Hanryeong, and Rebecca appeared with deep sighs, looking exhausted. The Guai that plodded after them bowed to Yeon-woo and disappeared into the shadows, almost as if they were running away.

Yeon-woo couldn’t help grinning. He’d sent them to help Boo out, and it was clear that Boo had been a merciless taskmaster. 

「It’s not funny! You’re being tricked, do you know that? He’s so meek on the outside, you don’t know how strict and demanding he—!」 Shanon was angrily complaining when Boo suddenly appeared next to him.

「You’re…here…Master.」

Boo head’s clacked as he bowed to Yeon-woo, then he shot a glare at Shanon. His Inferno Sight flared as though he were accusing Shanon of snitching. Shanon glared at Boo like he hadn’t done anything wrong and looked away. Although as a Death Noble, he had a higher status than Boo, he’d begun to feel that it was becoming harder to speak to Boo.

He felt an instinctive threat now that Boo was beginning to emanate an aura that he or the others didn’t have. It was almost as though he couldn’t be touched. The aura only disappeared when Boo was around Yeon-woo, replaced by a fierce loyalty. The others found it unbelievable, and whenever they looked at Boo, they all had the same thought. ‘Who was Boo when he was alive?’

Although a part of his memories had probably returned, Boo never mentioned anything about his former life. 

‘I didn’t think their hierarchy would end up like this.’ Yeon-woo had been expecting that his subordinates would establish some kind of order on their own. He thought that a Death Noble like Shanon might take the lead, or perhaps Hanryeong, who had reached a great peak in his life. However, to his surprise, it was Boo.  

Still, that was a pretty good situation for Yeon-woo. Boo was quiet but had deep thoughts. His magic was a great help to Yeon-woo, and he also led the Guai into battle easily. He was a faithful and competent deputy whose loyalty bordered on fanaticism. It was exactly what a subordinate should be. He was easier to control than the unpredictable Shanon or the enigmatic Hanryeong. 

‘Also, he’s my first subordinate.’ Still smiling, Yeon-woo tossed two of the rings on his finger to Boo. “Take them.”

「Master. These are…?」 Boo caught the rings and looked at Yeon-woo. He already had a similar ring on one of his fingers. It was the ring to open Intrenian. “You can combine all three of them into one space, right?”

「If I adjust…it. It’s…definitely…possible.」

“As we climb the floors, we’ll all grow and gain more items. We should complete the dungeon now to be ready.”

Boo immediately understood. The greater the dungeon, the more possessions they could store. They could increase the number of workers they had—skeletons, zombies, and ghouls—and continue to strengthen them. Skeletons could be turned into skeleton warriors or mages, zombies into giant zombies, specters and banshees into phantoms, and so on. 

The undead that Yeon-woo used after declaring his domain were just the corpses that he found lying on the battlefield. But if they were kept in the dungeon and strengthened, to be summoned en masse when needed…‘They would be a destructive force. And I can summon as few or as many as I see fit.’ When attacking enemy bases, they could even open the dungeon in mid-air and surprise their enemies.

Also, a large dungeon meant they would have the ability to conduct large experiments. Walpurgisnacht had only managed to make progress with theirs since they had the space and the money. Yeon-woo had no issue with funds, either. The treasure room of Red Dragon was the equivalent of a few years of a large clan’s savings.

「But…Master.」

Yeon-woo flashed the Intrenian ring that he used often. “I can put the items I need in here. You don’t have to worry. You can move everything inside this space.”

「Thank you.」 Boo bowed. His shoulders were trembling. The master who had given him life and power was showing him generosity again. How could he repay this?

「Master, what about me? Don’t I get anything?」 Shanon, who had been silently watching, suddenly burst in between them. 

Yeon-woo glanced at Shanon and only sighed as he moved deeper into the dungeon. 

「Hey, Master! What’s the meaning behind that sigh? What does it mean?」 Shanon jumped up and down as he chased after Yeon-woo. 

* * *

「This…is…it.」 Boo led them to the depths of the dungeon that was separated off from the other sections. The smell of death filled the air, and there were more magic circles on the walls and the ceiling. They were transmutation circles and sealing circles. 

“This is fine.” Yeon-woo confirmed that the magic circles all worked and summoned the soul of the Summer Queen from his collection. Black energy was instantly poured into the soul, and it changed into a spirit. 

There were limits to communicating with a soul, so Yeon-woo had given it some power like Bahal and Leonte. Even though she was reduced to a spirit, the Summer Queen was still dangerous. Even as a mere soul, she had almost escaped the bindings of the Black Bracelet.

「Heaven Wing!」 As soon as the Summer Queen regained her senses, she ran towards Yeon-woo. She was in her human form, her long, transparent hair stretching out behind her, her eyes sharp. The Despair of the Black King activated to put her under painful pressure, but she didn’t care. She just wanted to kill Yeon-woo for reducing her to this state. 

Chrak, chrak! As if he’d been waiting, Boo cast a spell and the sealing circles activated, pouring down divine iron. Since the sealing circle had even managed to bind a lower-level demon, the Summer Queen wouldn’t be able to escape it in her current condition. 

「Let go! Let go of me! Heaven Wing! I’ll kill you!」 The Summer Queen struggled, the divine iron wrapping around her like a cocoon. The more she resisted, the tighter the binds grew. 「Aaack!」 Had she ever experienced humiliation like this? She had lived thousands of years as one of the great Draconic species and ruled the Tower with pride. 

However, she’d died after being humiliated by a lowly creature, turned into a ghost, and even tied up. It made her crazy. It was demeaning and horrible. She would completely annihilate her existence if she could, but she was too tightly bound by the Despair of the Black King. She no longer owned herself, Yeon-woo did.

‘This might be why it’s called ‘Despair’.’ There was no rest even after death. Yeon-woo burst out laughing as he watched the Summer Queen struggle. He couldn’t feel any more satisfied. She had acted like she would rule the Tower forever, and she’d come tumbling down to this pathetic state. The end of the last dragon was a sight to see. 

「I said to let me go!」 The Summer Queen screamed, her eyes red. If she couldn’t kill herself, she at least wanted to go mad. But the outstanding rationality of the Draconic species wouldn’t allow her. Also, even if she began to lose her mind, Yeon-woo only needed to input a little black energy to help her regain her reason.

Yeon-woo took off his mask and slowly approached the Summer Queen. The Summer Queen’s struggles grew more violent. Heaven Wing! Heaven Wing! Even after death, he made her suffer without any chance of escape. What was this thing in front of her? The Summer Queen couldn’t believe her eyes. Cha Jeong-woo was definitely dead. She had confirmed it herself.

If the creature in front of her were undead, then it would make sense, but he was a living, breathing human. She was confused and couldn’t understand what was going on.

Yeon-woo crouched down to look the Summer Queen in the eye, lifting her chin to smirk at her. The Summer Queen’s struggling stopped and she glowered at Yeon-woo. 「You! You’re not Heaven Wing.」

Although she had lost part of her powers, she still had some skills left. Her Draconic Eyes showed her someone who looked like Jeong-woo but wasn’t him. 

“Cha Yeon-woo. That’s my name.”

The Summer Queen understood. 「You’re Heaven Wing’s brother?」

“Yes.”

「I should have torn you to pieces when I first laid my eyes on you!」

“Sorry, that’s not going to happen to me, but it’s going to happen to you.” Yeon-woo opened eyes that looked like the Summer Queen’s and growled. “I’m going to rip you apart and swallow you.” His intense fury made Demonism flow from his eyes. “But I won’t make it easy for you. When you’re trapped in despair—when you realize that there’s no one to save you, and you realize there’s no hope, I’ll eat you then.”

Yeon-woo had already planned what he would do with the Summer Queen. He could use her as his subordinate, but he didn’t want to let his enemy live. It was better to swallow her soul with Bathory’s Vampiric Sword and boost the Draconic Factors. 

「Try your best. Do you think I’ll even lift an eyebrow?」 Despite her maddened fury, the Summer Queen would never destroy herself or surrender. She snickered at Yeon-woo as if telling him to give it his all. 

However, Yeon-woo made the same laugh back at her. “We’ll see.”

「What?」

“I’m curious what you’ll feel once you see the body you cherish so much being ripped apart in front of your eyes.”

「What kind of…!」

Boo waved his hand in the air, and the darkness disappeared to reveal a large glass tank full of purple liquid. The Summer Queen’s body was submerged inside it. It was full of injuries from her battle with the Martial King, but her arms and limb had been reattached, and all the major wounds were almost healed. Its eyes were closed, and anyone would say that she was only sleeping.

「I-is it possible…?」 The Summer Queen finally realized what Yeon-woo was planning to do when she saw the pumps and hoses connected to the glass tank. Red blood flowed out while black poison pumped in.

“Every inch of a dragon’s corpse is useful. The eyes can be used as magic power sources, the scales and leather as armor, and the bones as unbreakable weapons. Also, its conductivity of magic power is second to none.”

「Stop!」

“I’m going to dissect your body in front of you. It’ll probably take some time since it’s so tough. I’ll have to slowly take it apart in the liquid.”

「I said stop!」

“And I’m also planning on showing you what I’ll do with the pieces of your body. Oh, don’t worry. I won’t take everything apart.”

「Just destroy me!」

A twisted smile appeared on Yeon-woo’s face as the Summer Queen screamed. “I might use the bones to make a Bone Dragon.”

「Destroy me! Please!」 The Summer Queen wanted to escape from this humiliation through any means possible. There was an unspoken rule of not disrespecting a corpse, even if it belonged to a bitter enemy. It was the last sign of respect towards the dead. 

However, Yeon-woo didn’t have these qualms. He was not only planning to rip her body apart, he was even going to turn her corpse into a Bone Dragon! If she could destroy herself, she would do it over and over. However, her soul was already bound, and she didn’t have any freedom. 

She couldn’t allow this to happen. She was a great dragon, one of the superior Draconic species. She couldn’t bear this humiliation! 「You! You’re also a descendant of dragons! How can you do that, as a Dragon Human?!」 The Summer Queen stopped screaming and suddenly became speechless. 

“If you can’t escape from that way of thinking, you’ll be in the dark forever. You’ll probably fight the loneliness until the end.”

Why did she suddenly remember Cha Jeong-woo’s words? Way of thinking. Way of thinking! Cha Jeong-woo had told her to escape the shadow of the dragons and to live her own life. If she didn’t, it would lead to her own destruction. 

Was that what he meant? She wasn’t suffering from her way of thinking; she was suffering because of Cha Jeong-woo’s ghost.

“Poor, pitiful Ismenios. The last dragon.”

「Let go of me!」 The more the Summer Queen struggled, the more Yeon-woo smiled coldly. 

Finally, the Summer Queen stopped her struggling and glared at Yeon-woo with burning eyes. 「What do you want?」

Yeon-woo stared at her and said in an icy voice, “I want to know why Jeong-woo had to die.”