Ranker's Return

‘He has never been cursed?’

It was a shocking statement. The emperor said he was fine from the beginning. In other words, the appearance he showed the last time was made up.

‘Was it to trap me? Why?’

Hyeonu couldn’t grasp the emperor’s intentions. Why dig a trap for Hyeonu?

“Come outside.”

The emperor passed by Hyeonu. He didn’t even give Hyeonu a proper look. Hyeonu stared at the emperor’s unguarded back for a moment before following after the emperor.

‘There is no point in attacking now.’

Fighting in a confined space was too disadvantageous for Hyeonu. If the space was narrow, then the effect of Mixed Sky Steps couldn’t be exerted to the extreme. It was like throwing away one of his biggest advantages in a fight.

‘Outside... I have to fight.’

The die was thrown already. It wouldn’t work even if he pretended nothing happened.

‘The emperor isn’t a fool...’

There were people he could lie to and people he couldn’t lie to. It was said that Suped had just come, so it was obvious that those outside would’ve been caught.

‘Adventurers covered in buffs entered the imperial palace... it doesn’t make sense to pass over it.’

It didn’t matter what the intent was. The result was that adventurers entered the imperial palace with buffs used in battle. This was a big problem. There was no way that Suped, a loyalist of the empire, could ignore it.

‘Please return alive.’

Hyeonu followed the emperor out of the great hall, only to be greeted with an unbelievable sight.

“Do you see?” The emperor stretched out his arms and pointed somewhere.

“Huh?”

Hyeonu’s gaze followed the emperor’s finger. There were people sitting down while bound by rope.

‘Were they all caught?’

Hyeonu was clearly flustered when he saw them, but he didn’t show it on the surface.

‘I don’t think anyone is dead.’

Hyeonu quickly checked the faces of those tied up with rope. Fortunately, all the faces that he had seen before setting off for the imperial palace were present.

“Those people over there. Do you know why they are bound?” The emperor placed his hand on Hyeonu’s shoulder and turned Hyeonu’s body toward those tied up by rope.

‘I know.’ Hyeonu couldn’t give the emperor an answer. He swallowed it down instead. He couldn’t say that they came with him to take the emperor’s position.

"You don\'t know? Then I’ll tell you.”

The emperor flicked his finger. Then from a distance, a black figure ran toward the emperor.

“Tell me why they came.”

“Based on the result of the investigation, they seem to have set up a conspiracy.”

“They seem?” The emperor raised his eyebrow like he didn’t like the man in black’s answer.

“They aimed for Your Majesty’s throne and invaded the imperial palace.” The man in black quickly came up with the correct answer.

“Aiming for the throne. This means a rebellion.” The emperor talked to himself and stuck his head out over Hyeonu’s shoulder. “Duke, how do you think I should deal with those who attempted rebellion?”

The emperor’s face was strange. He should be angry, but he didn’t look angry. Rather, he was smiling.

‘Just be angry.’

Hyeonu felt very uncomfortable due to the emperor’s expression. It felt like he was sitting on a thorny cushion.

“If it is right that they tried to rebel... they should be driven out of the empire.”

Hyeonu came up with nuanced words to protect the rankers who followed him while not deviating from the principle.

“They are going to just get kicked out?”

The emperor cocked his head slightly as if Hyeonu’s answer wasn’t satisfactory.

“They are adventurers. Killing them once doesn’t make a difference. Rather, it might cause greater damage for them to be removed from their forces.”

Hyeonu’s words were true, but also not true. Being expelled outside the empire was definitely a loss. However, there were plenty of hunting grounds outside the empire and endless ways to interact with players. It was a greater benefit to not die here.

“Really? Well, that could be a good method.”

Hyeonu sighed lightly at the emperor’s words. It was because he extended the lives of the rankers for a short time, albeit it was just short.

“By the way... there is one more thing to think about. It is good to deal with them, but it is also important to fundamentally figure out why this happened,” the emperor spoke as he slowly moved away from Hyeonu, “Why did the adventurers over there suddenly want to take power? We need to know the cause. This way, it won’t happen next time.”

The emperor left Hyeonu behind and approached the rankers tied up by the rope.

“Duke, do you perhaps know? Why did they aim for the throne?”

The more the emperor’s words continued, the heavier Hyeonu’s heart became. The ending was the same anyway.

A fight. It was something that was inevitable.

“You don’t seem to know based on the way there is no answer. Then I will let you know.” The emperor didn’t care whether Hyeonu answered or not. He continued with what he wanted to say. “Someone must’ve been a central point. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to do such a thing. Duke, you must find the central point from now on. Can you do it?”

The emperor held out his hand with his palm pointed at the sky. It was as if he was asking Hyeonu to take his hand.

Then Hyeonu reached out to the emperor. The problem was that his hand was holding the Mixed Sky Sword.

“I gave you a chance to escape... are you giving it up?”

The emperor wasn’t surprised at all by Hyeonu’s sudden behavior. He just looked at Hyeonu with a strange smile.

“It is my people who looked at me and came out to help. To betray them now... I don’t think so. I want to keep at least the minimum of morality.”

All those who were tied up by rope were the ones called by Hyeonu. He asked them directly to help him. It was impossible to abandon them just because the situation had become unfavorable.

‘If I am a person, then I shouldn’t do that.’

Hyeonu added strength to the hand holding the Mixed Sky Sword.

“Your mindset is good. There must be things like good faith between people.” The moment the emperor finished speaking, a strong gust of wind started to blow around him. “Apart from this, there will be a price to pay for the rebellion...”

A seven-colored light burst out of the emperor’s eyes.

‘It is terrifying.’

Hyeonu gulped and his body trembled as he looked at the emperor. However, there was no place to retreat. Now he had to fight unconditionally.

Hyeonu rushed toward the emperor without using any more buffs. Nevertheless, it was at a crazy pace. Only faint remnants could be seen in the air while Hyeonu’s appearance wasn’t clearly visible.

In a situation where nothing could be seen properly, the emperor lightly thrust his palm forward. A seven-colored light burst from the emperor’s palm. A strong explosion broke out and Hyeonu, who appeared in the air where there was nothing, was pushed back.

‘It is a foul.’

Hyeonu frowned. It wasn’t that the counterattack was strong. It was to the level of not being able to fight back at all. He couldn’t endure it. There was too much strength.

‘Acknowledged Giant.’

[Acknowledged Giant has been used.]

[All stats have increased.]

Hyeonu used a buff to fill the gap. He opened up the power of the giants’ divine object.

Hyeonu kicked into the air again and rushed back to the emperor. It was the same thing as before but the results were very different. Now there were no remnants to be seen. He could only feel something faint moving.

‘This is enough to hold the emperor’s position for a while.’

“Yes, yes. This is it.”

The emperor saw Hyeonu like this and smiled. He was happy that Hyeonu’s growth was taking place non-stop.

The emperor’s body shone with seven colors. The world started to be dyed with seven colors. Then Hyeonu’s appearance was revealed. It became clear where he was and how he moved.

The emperor extended a finger to point at Hyeonu. The seven-colored pure energy was fired like a bullet. It was really fast. It didn’t fly, but seemed to jump through space.

Hyeonu raised the Mixed Sky Sword and bounced off the pure energy fired by the emperor. A sharp cry was heard from the Mixed Sky Sword. It also vibrated strongly in Hyeonu’s grasp.

‘Ouch...’

Hyeonu barely managed to catch the Mixed Sky Sword, which was about to fly away.

‘I was pushed even with the giant buff?’

He couldn’t believe it. The emperor’s attack that was thrown lightly contained such power.

‘There is no defense.’

Unconditionally attacking was the only answer. He shouldn’t let the emperor attack. Hyeonu used Mixed Sky Steps and ran forward to avoid the flying pure energy. In an instant, the distance between Hyeonu and the emperor narrowed. It was a ridiculous speed.

Hyeonu approached the emperor and quickly swung the Mixed Sky Sword. The purple pure energy flew over the emperor’s head. The emperor waved his hands toward the pouring pure energy. Seven-colored pure energy rose along his hand and created a membrane in the air.

Hyeonu’s pure energy couldn’t penetrate the emperor’s pure energy. It tapped harder than ever, but that was it. The emperor’s wall was that hard and thick.

Hyeonu wasn’t satisfied with the current situation. He made a few attacks, but that was it.

‘His eyes are chasing me.’

He felt the emperor’s gaze continue to follow him. He knew better than anyone that it would be hard for him to launch an effective attack if he couldn’t keep the emperor’s eyes off him. Even so, he didn’t lose his composure.

‘It is because there was still something left.’

Hyeonu had a few more cards left.

‘One more thing... take it out.’

Just then, Hyeonu’s gaze shifted quickly. It shifted toward the rankers who were tied up by the rope. Then a golden bear and purple bear appeared among them. Hyeonu’s movements changed the moment Tang-E and Gom-E appeared.

He sped up once again. It was like the effect of two skills. It was Tang-E’s Dancing with a Bear and Magic Spirit Creation. These two skills raised Hyeonu’s stats.

“There are still some things hidden?”

The emperor looked at Hyeonu with an interested expression. He immediately grasped the change in Hyeonu.

“I think you deserve this much.”

The emperor extended his right arm. Just then, a vortex of seven colors started swirling around the emperor’s arm. The vortex continued all the way to the emperor’s right hand. Finally, the vortex became a brilliant sword.

‘The sword that killed Baler...’

Hyeonu’s eyes shook when he saw the sword in the emperor’s hand. Hyeonu knew the true identity of this sword.

‘The pressure is different.’

There was a huge difference between the emperor with a sword and the emperor without one. Hyeonu knew it because he had seen it himself.

‘I’m not in a situation where I can save it any longer.’

Hyeonu’s intuition was frantically signaling danger. Now the exploratory battle was over. The time had come to finally pour out everything. Hyeonu took out the last card he had saved.

‘Manifestation of the Chaos Dragon.’

[Manifestation of the Chaos Dragon has been used.]

[The effect of all skills has increased.]

Purple magic power immediately spread out from Hyeonu’s body. The magic power that had spread out swirled into the atmosphere. The swirling magic power took on a form. The earth trembled as the giant dragon floating over Hyeonu’s head released a harsh cry toward the emperor.

‘This is my everything!’

Hyeonu thrust the Mixed Sky Sword toward the emperor.