Ranker's Return

Chapter 837

The man lying on a large rock suddenly rose. He had white skin and grayish hair.

‘What is this?’

The man suddenly suffered from an unpleasant feeling of loss. He felt like something in his soul had fallen apart.

“Jeras!” the man screamed into the air. Surprisingly, another man appeared in the air where no one was present.

“You called.” The one named ‘Jeras’ knelt down before the man.

“Did anything happen to the family?” the man questioned Jeras. It was to identify the unknown source of loss.

Jeras bowed his head and answered the man’s question, “There are no big problems.”

“Then what is this sense of loss that I feel? I feel a sense of emptiness,” the man said. He got down from the rock and stood on the ground. Then he walked around silently for a long while.

“I will go to the middle world for a bit. There is an answer there,” the man stated as he stopped in front of Jeras and put his hand on Jeras’ head. “In addition, the blessing for the family has been completed. The tribe will flourish even more and regain its former glory.”

The man disappeared in a burst of white light with these words. When Jeras felt the touch on the top of his head disappear, he raised his head gently.

“Luke...”

The god of the family... and the rock disappeared without a trace. Only a huge white tree stood in its place. The tree had countless branches and leaves, but there was only one fruit.

Jeras walked cautiously toward the tree. Then he grabbed the only fruit and brought it to his mouth.

“I will prepare the temple.”

Jeras chewed all of the fruit without leaving a trace behind.

***

Edward knew the identity of the man who suddenly appeared in front of him.

‘Luke?’

It was Luke. His was a memorable face from the memory that Ragand had left behind. There was no need to delve deeply into Ragand’s memory. Luke was a big part of it.

“What is going on?” Edward’s voice was full of vigilance. It was natural. In his memory, Luke was Ragand’s rival in a good and a bad way.

“As expected... Ragand is dead.” Luke didn’t listen to Edward and only said what he wanted to say. “Based on the way you recognized me, he must’ve left his memory behind. I’m glad.”

Luke immediately found the cause of the loss. It was the death of his fated rival, Ragand. He felt it as soon as he arrived in the middle world.

“Give me the ran tribe’s secret arts that Ragand left behind. They aren’t something you can handle.” Luke asked Edward for the secret arts out of the blue.

‘The secret arts? Why do I have to give them to him?’ Edward snorted at Luke’s words. The secret arts of the ran tribe were in Ragand’s memory, and that memory was now his own. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that he got them at the risk of his life. He couldn’t give them to anyone else.

“If you are going to talk rubbish, just get lost. Do you think I will teach you that?” Edward turned down Luke’s request without a second thought.

“Too bad. I don’t know any magic that can steal memories.” Luke coldly observed Edward’s entire body.

“Yes, it is a pity.” Edward didn’t freeze under Luke’s eyes. He wouldn’t flinch under such intimidation as he had already experienced similar situations too many times before like with the emperor and Callioraks. There were also the indirect experiences from Ragand’s memory.

‘He also said he can’t take away memories. This means he won’t harm me.’

It was a reasonable guess. Luke needed the secret arts of the ran tribe, but he had no way to take it out of Edward’s memory. This meant he wouldn’t get the secret arts he needed if Edward died.

Edward believed in this and came out strongly.

“You weren’t a useless seed. You are a human being, so I had to test it once. I can’t give his memory to a strange guy.” Luke suddenly changed his attitude. He erased the hostility in his eyes and maintained a wary attitude like they were meeting for the first time.

‘This jerk?’ Edward gritted his teeth at the change in Luke’s attitude. He realized that he had indeed been tested.

‘Testing me? What are his qualifications?’

Anger filled Edward’s heart. Why should he be treated like this? He couldn’t understand it.

‘Revenge... I will get revenge...’

Edward’s mind quickly spun. He thought of a way to deal Luke a blow—one where he could do a lot of damage to Luke without Luke knowing it.

‘What is there? I can’t fight him myself...’

His knowledge alone couldn’t come up with anything. However, he had another answer—Ragand’s memory. He used this to find a way to deal a blow to Luke.

‘Like Ragand, Luke has deep affection for his tribe. I have to find a way to damage the ra tribe itself rather than touch Luke.’

There was nothing Edward could do against Luke. Naturally, his attention shifted to the ra tribe instead.

‘Throw the bait and catch it when he bites.’

The plan Edward came up with during this short period of time was simple. He intended to induce severe damage to the entire ra tribe by using the secret arts that Luke wanted as bait.

“Did you say you wanted the secret arts? I’ll give them to you if you want, but I have a condition,” Edward said.

“Condition? You are going to hand over the secret arts for a price?” Luke was interested in Edward’s words. The ran tribe’s secret arts were worth it. They were established by Ragand, a genius comparable to Luke himself. The prosperity of his tribe would come a bit faster if he could get his hands on it.

“You don’t know this, but I am currently at war with the humans. I need you to help me. Then I’ll gradually give you the secret arts. You might not keep your promise if I give them all at once.”

Edward used the secret arts as the trick. He meant that he wouldn’t teach Luke everything altogether. Instead, he would teach the secret arts little by little depending on how well Luke fulfilled his request. Of course, Edward didn’t really intend to teach all of the secret arts. He would teach just the basics that would be of no use to Luke.

‘There is no reason to let myself be pushed later.’

In addition, he wasn’t going to teach the secret arts later either. There was no reason to do so. By that time, he would have the ability to be unafraid of Luke. In addition, the war between the ra tribe and humans would be intense. It was clear that Luke wouldn’t be able to afford to pay attention to Edward.

“War? Against humans?” Luke showed interest in Edward’s words that he was at war. It was as interesting as the topic of teaching him the secret arts.

“That’s right. So are you going to agree or not?” Edward asked back indifferently. It was as if it didn’t matter if Luke went to war or not.

‘He will unconditionally bite the bait.’ Edward was convinced that Luke would become involved in the war. ‘He can’t let go of his greed for the middle world.’

It was just like how one part of Edward’s heart still longed for the empire.

Ragand and Luke, the ran tribe and the ra tribe—for them, the middle world was both a dream and a home to return to. It was a goal they couldn’t give up.

“War... Okay. What should I do?” Luke accepted Edward’s offer without bothering to think about it. The middle world was a place they could return to at any time. If there was a justification like this… it was actually good for Luke.

‘Good, he bit it,’ Edward thought. Then he stretched out his index finger and moved it toward the ground, drawing a picture on the ice. It was a map of the middle world’s continent.

“This is where I am now.” Edward marked an X in the upper right corner of the drawing.

“This is the front line I will build in the future.” Edward’s finger moved again, curving down from where he marked the X. It was a line that was neither long nor short. Yet it was actually a huge distance when considering that the drawing was a map of the continent.

“The front line you have to build is here.” Edward moved his finger non-stop. “Form a front line in the southeast of the East Continent, completely opposite to the one I created.”

The new curve was drawn in a diagonal symmetrical position with the first curve. Physically, the distance between them was the furthest.

‘Hold both at the same time.’

Edward was scheming to hit Luke, but at the same time, he was leading it in a direction that was helpful to him. The concentration would obviously be different if front lines appeared at opposite poles.

“Okay, I will start a war. However, I will add a condition of passing on one secret art once a month,” Luke said. He knew that Edward’s words weren’t very credible. Even so, Luke couldn’t refuse or kill Edward. The secret arts of the ran tribe were simply that attractive.

‘Even if it is just the basics... that alone is a reason to wage war against humans.’

The ran tribe and the ra tribe had been opposites since birth—darkness and light. Thus, they naturally tried to steal the opponent’s secret arts. Yet as long as they knew this, they were very secure with each other. The war between the demon world and the divine world was actually fought because they wanted to steal each other’s secret arts after the two tribes moved away from the middle world.

“I will transfer the first secret art to you when I hear that the god tribe has invaded the middle world.” Edward turned and ascended to his throne made of ice.

“It won’t be long,” Luke gave a short answer and disappeared.

***

Hyeonu, who crossed a giant boss monster called the demon god, was very busy in real life. There was no rest.

“Why are you cleaning all of a sudden?” Hyeonu asked. He suddenly had to spend several hours cleaning the house without knowing the reason. Yeongchan pestered him continuously, so Hyeonu couldn’t help it. Even if he tried to ignore it, Yeongchan kept coming near where Hyeonu was resting and interfering with his rest.

Yeongchan put the vacuum cleaner back in its original position and answered Hyeonu’s question, “Guests are coming today. I naturally have to clean up.”

“Who is coming?”

“People you also know.”

“People I know? Is it one or two? Just tell me.” Hyeonu became annoyed. The people that Hyeonu and Yeongchan knew mostly overlapped. The size of their network of connections was similar. In particular, there were only a few people they were close enough to in order to invite home.

“Is it a random check?” Hyeonu was forced to start the twenty questions. The first ones he guessed were Yeongchan’s parents.

“No, they don’t care. They will never come.” Yeongchan shook his head. His parents put the responsibility on Yeongchan. He was now an adult, so they thought it was up to him to do whatever he wanted and how to live.

“Then do I have to leave now?” Hyeonu’s second guess about the guest was the possibility of a certain existence.

“No, you jerk!!!” Yeongchan shouted and shook his head.

“Then who is coming?” Hyeonu asked again with a sullen expression.

“Wonjun and Yoonsu.”

“They didn’t even come to the reunion. How did you get in touch with them?” Hyeonu looked surprised. The two friends Yeongchan mentioned were the ones who hadn’t appeared at the last reunion, so Hyeonu thought they were no longer in contact.

“They are on leave from the army.” Yeongchan’s words revealed the reason for their absence.

“Ah... Really? What are you doing? Aren’t you ordering food? Order everything you can.”