Second Life Ranker

Yeon-woo instinctively pulled out Vigrid from subspace and raised it. Clang! The venomous fang of the monstrous snake stopped right above Yeon-woo’s head. It struggled to swallow Yeon-woo, but Yeon-woo’s tough Demonic Dragonic Body didn’t budge. Still, the monstrous snake’s strength was unbelievable. Vigrid would have already cut off an ordinary monster’s head by now, but the monstrous snake was barely scratched. Ching! Vigrid trembled.

Yeon-woo quickly saw through the identity of the snake with his Draconic Eyes. “ Elaine.” It was another one of Triton’s leaders in her monster form.

〈Transformation – Monster〉

The god Charybdis was a terrifying monster, which meant that her Apostle Elaine not only could rule over monsters, she could take the form of Charybdis’ exuviae. However, Elaine didn’t like transforming into a monster, and the fact that she’d resorted to this meant only one thing.

“Are you planning on getting rid of me first?”

“That’s right.” Although Yeon-woo had practically been muttering to himself, Jinrang appeared behind him with a reply. “Please die here, Hoarder.”

Swoosh! Jinrang swung his twin swords, and a powerful Aura rushed through the blades with a brilliant light.

〈True Tornado〉

The skill attacked with the force of a tornado each time he swung. Right before his blade slid through Yeon-woo’s back, Yeon-woo circulated his Magic Circuit, heating up the waiting Philosopher’s Stone, and his Fire Wings spread open. 

Boom! A powerful heat expanded and flicked Jinrang away. He left deep grooves in the earth as he was flung back, and he looked at Yeon-woo with his eyes wide. His steaming arms were scorched black, and he was in intense pain. He managed to restore himself with holy power, but he was incredulous that his body, which had the grace of the ocean, could be injured so severely.

His shock didn’t end there. Yeon-woo wrapped fire around himself and turned his body to the side. The white Vigrid turned black and created another explosion. 

A Wave of Fire that was even more powerful than before swept over Elaine and Jinrang right away. Boom! The barrier around them couldn’t endure the severe heat and shattered. The heat wave made a tornado soar to the sky, tearing the atmosphere apart.

Jinrang rolled on the floor for a while, then he leaned on his sword to rise to his feet. However, his eyes were shaking. ‘How is this…?’

His plan had been simple. While the Chest of Souls and Necropolis were occupied, he and Elaine would take care of Yeon-woo before getting rid of the other clans. He didn’t think it would be hard. 

They were in Poseidon’s holy territory and if they fought within this enclosed space, Jinrang believed they had a chance against Yeon-woo. The players dealing with their other enemies only needed to hang on until Benteke opened the iron door. Too late, Jinrang realized that he’d made the wrong decision. 

There was no way he and Elaine could even catch someone like Yeon-woo. ‘So…he truly is a monstrous guy who becomes stronger with every battle.’ Had he been hiding his abilities or had he only grown stronger? It seemed like the latter, after all, since Yeon-woo was using the same skills from when he’d fought Benteke. ‘No, that’s wrong. He was both hiding his true strength and growing stronger.’

A pair of glowing eyes appeared over Yeon-woo’s head like will-o’-the-wisps and glared at him. They sent shivers down Jinrang’s back. All he could think of was ‘What is that?’ The Inferno Sight made his mind go blank, and he suddenly realized what people meant when they described one’s heart pounding out of one’s chest? He felt like he was hanging on the edge of a cliff. 

The being with those eyes was nothing compared to its master. It wasn’t separate from Yeon-woo at all. Yeon-woo was hiding a truly incredible ace up his sleeve. And that wasn’t all.

“N-no. D-don’t come here!” Elaine had reverted to her human form and fallen on her bottom, filled with fear as she skidded back. Her clothes were drenched with sweat, and her expression of fright was clear even on her charred face. It was the first time Jinrang had ever seen this person—who had laughed at her brother’s death and only thought of finding thrills—act this way. She was terrified of Boo’s Inferno Sight even more than Ted had been.  

People only noticed as much as they understood. As the rule of monsters, she saw clearly how powerful Boo was and how much he towered over her. To people like her, it was impossible to surpass a being like Boo. Even if Elaine was a ranker and confident in her strength, there were limits she couldn’t break through.

However, Boo didn’t have the same restrictions. He wasn’t even someone that Elaine dared look at directly, and it was impossible for her to confront him. The Factors of Charybdis that always protected her grew faint and didn’t return.

「You…recognize…me.」 Boo’s eyes narrowed. Only Elaine could hear his quiet whisper that sounded like screaming in her head. Her skull felt like it was tightening, and her insides churned. 「Then.」 His next words made Elaine’s heart beat wildly. 「Die.」 Just as an invisible hand from the shadows was about to tighten around Elaine’s neck and soul…

“One.” There was a soft swish, Elaine’s head dropped to the ground, her face still filled with shock. A stranger moved behind the fountain of blood quickly. They were wrapped in bandages that concealed any information about their identity. It was Faceless, one of the Six New Stars and the clan leader of the Chest of Souls. Their vocal cords were cut so their voice sounded like nails on a chalkboard. As soon as Elaine and Charybdis’ Channel had been cut off, leaving the monsters confused, Faceless had immediately acted to get rid of them and gone to the castle. They thought it was strange to just observe the situation, so they had jumped in to cut off Elaine’s head.

Although his home was being invaded, Benteke still didn’t appear. That could only mean that he still hadn’t recovered from the injuries he’d sustained in the battle with the Hoarder.

「You…dare!」 Boo was furious to lose his prey from right under his nose, not to mention that it was someone filled with Divine Factors for his great master to absorb. But he had just missed taking it by seconds…! He could add the soul to the shadows using the Guai, but he couldn’t add it to the Soul Collection. He had lost the soul of an Apostle. 

Boo activated magic to catch Faceless. The ground Faceless was stepping on suddenly dropped from below, and shadow tentacles wrapped their legs.  Faceless’ expression hardened under their bandages. They were heading straight to Benteke’s room and the tentacles were getting in their way. The large eyes above Yeon-woo were horrifying, but that was all Faceless felt. Only Jinrang and Elaine felt the huge gap between themselves and the eyes.  

“Get out of the way!” Faceless twisted their body, and the bandages unwrapped from his arm to lash at the shadows. The bandages were full of Aura and were in turn as flexible as whips or as hard as blades as they defended themselves against Boo’s attacks.

Boom! A large ball of fire fell from the sky. The bandages on Faceless’ feet unwrapped to create a shield. Faceless cut off the burning bandages and unleashed new ones from a different direction. They were planning to get rid of Boo before going for Yeon-woo.

And above them, a red portal opened, and a middle-aged man descended. His face was hidden under a hood, but one could see the dark circles under his eyes. “I announce a bad fate for all of you.” Doctor Doom, Ranul, flicked his fingers. As he did, countless magic circles appeared in the air. 

〈Random Magic Circle Release〉

Doctor Doom used a new form of magic that didn’t require him to store or memorize anything beforehand; he was the only player who could do this. It was similar to Heaven Wing Cha Jeong-woo’s Random Shooting. Different magic circles all shot magic out at the same time. Boom! Boom!

Doctor Doom was aiming to destroy everyone, including Yeon-woo, Faceless, Jinrang, and the hidden Benteke, since they were all gathered in the same place. However, Creutz jumped into the fray. Although he’d promised Yeon-woo that he wouldn’t interfere, his clan leader had ordered him to protect Yeon-woo and he couldn’t just stand idly by.

As he jumped off the wyvern, he swung his sword at Doctor Doom. The holy sword Zulfikar emanated light.

〈Holy Cross〉

A white light fell from the sky like heavy rain. 

“You dare!” Jinrang was furious. Everything was a mess because of the emerging clans. These bastards that had been too scared to face Triton directly were now scurrying over like rats. Although he usually stayed calm no matter what the situation was, he couldn’t hold back his anger. 

The god Orion descended into Jinrang’s body. Since they were near Poseidon’s temple, there was more freedom for a god to move here thanks to the laws of causality. Orion could manifest via the Channel at Jinrang’s desperate request. White holy power sparked from Jinrang’s body.

Constellations glowed in the dark night sky, showing that Orion was stronger than most gods. He also had the favor of one of the higher gods of Olympus, Artemis. Jinrang roared and swung his sword. True Tornado grew even more powerful and broke into pieces over the heads of the invaders. Everything happened in a single instant.  

With the interference of two of the Six New Stars, holy power sparked, and Boo showed himself.

[Time Difference]

As time slowed, Yeon-woo looked at everything with cold eyes, using Draconic Eyes and Extrasensory Perception to calculate and guess all possibilities. He added one more skill.

[Precognition]

Tick tock. The pocket watch activated, giving him five seconds. The time period was longer than what he’d gotten before, and he managed to see many things. He was careful about using it after learning that Precognition wouldn’t be able to see everything from his fight with Benteke.  

There were no guarantees in a battle with a god. He checked more carefully and examined more possibilities before finally making his move. Black Aura exploded from Vigrid once again. The Wave of Fire spread through the complicated maze of skills. 

The pocket watch stopped. Time returned to normal.  

Boom! An explosion swept through the entire castle, with only Yeon-woo standing inside it.