Ranker Who Lives Twice

Team: HH, thursdays, Yahiko (8/12)

Kwang!

“Hup!”

Benteke subconsciously raised Triaina. When he did, he found Vigrid at his neck. Yeon-woo was right in front of him.

He felt shivers down his back.

When had he gotten so close? Benteke was even more bewildered because he hadn’t felt anything.

“As I thought.”

A smile grew on his face.

“This will be fun!”

Benteke looked at Yeon-woo with beast-like eyes. The mask in front of him looked like a demon, but it fit with Yeon-woo’s overall combative atmosphere.

“You’re like me.”

Benteke was able to know as soon as he met Yeon-woo’s eyes.

The guy in front of him was also a beast.

Everything about them was the same.

He was brutal and violent, and even though he looked apathetic on the outside, that wasn’t how he truly felt.

There was a beast hidden inside of him that had to rip everything apart. The eyes under the mask expressed that.

“…..Maybe.”

Yeon-woo didn’t deny Benteke’s words.

On the 16th floor, Urd had said he was a monster. A beast that couldn’t be tamed.

She had said that it was just hidden on the outside, but in reality, he was more vicious than anyone else. She also said that he couldn’t have anyone else in front of him, and he had to cruelly punish those who took what was his.

That acting like he was solitary, sad, and regretful was only a psychological defense because he didn’t want to acknowledge the beast inside of him.

Additionally, she had told him if he released the beast inside the cage, he would be able to feel freedom that he hadn’t felt before and take everything he wanted.

However, Yeon-woo denied it.

He didn’t want to be manipulated by Urd, and he didn’t want to become an embarrassment as Jeong-woo’s brother.

But looking back at it now, he knew that she wasn’t wrong.

He had begun everything for revenge, but he felt exhilarated when he became stronger by the second. The more he grew his nails, bared his teeth, and hardened his body—the more he could see his prey, the more Yeon-woo felt happy.

It became clear when he fought against Apophis’s shedding and the Cannibal Monster King.

Originally, he would’ve been focused on killing the hidden boss and taking the Karma and hidden pieces, but he was disappointed that they were weaker than he thought.

He wanted to use his new power.

Like how a beast wanted to show off his power and climb higher in the hierarchy.

The beast hidden inside Yeon-woo wanted to do that. As the cage slowly opened, the beast was getting ready to come outside.

Yeon-woo decided not to deny this anymore.

A beast?

So what if he had one inside him.

All Yeon-woo had been afraid of was the beast escaping the cage and moving freely. However, if he could have a proper leash on it, there was no need to deny it.

Keegigigigi—

Yeon-woo pushed Vigrid even closer. The black Aura flamed up, exuding a sweltering heat wave.

“Yeah. Then it’ll be more fun. The necklace around your neck…..sure. It’ll be more comfortable to think about that after I get you. Right?”

Benteke reflected the heat wave with an ice wave. He pulled Triaina below him to push Vigrid away, and he stuck the edge of his spear into Yeon-woo.

Shishishik—

Like a series of consecutive bonds, he aimed Triaina aimed at Yeon-woo’s chest and head. The River of Souls below his feet exploded from the water pressure.

Puupung!

Yeon-woo met the attack head on. He hit, pierced, and split. The sound of the weapons clashing against each other couldn’t be heard over the explosion.

‘He’s not opening easily.’

Yeon-woo continued to spew his attacks out. With the ability to control Consciousness, he was an expert, and his Eight Extreme Swords were showing an improvement.

He thought that unless you were of a warrior level within the One-horned tribe, you wouldn’t be able to stop this easily. Normal players couldn’t be compared to this.

However, Benteke blocked Yeon-woo’s attacks well. No, rather, he even reflected them, even pushing back.

It meant that his martial arts abilities didn’t fall short of Yeon-woo’s.

Kwakwakwang—

[Time Difference]

In the slowed-down world, Yeon-woo looked for his Focal Points.

The flaws pointed to two different areas.

Benteke’s Achilles tendon of his left ankle and his right waist.

[Wind Path]

When he activated his Draconic Eyes, he could see different paths from where the Achilles tendon and his right waist were connected.

Yeon-woo stepped on the path that led to his right waist. Following the direction of the wind, he swung Vigrid.

When Vigrid’s options were added on top of this—

[Sword Purification]

[Hero – Unyielding]

Yeon-woo’s combative power increased as Vigrid recognized Benteke as an enemy.

It was a calculative attack that happened in an instant. Yeon-woo knew that this attack would leave a deep injury in Benteke’s waist and chest.

However…..

Kwang!

Triaina was blocking Benteke’s waist.

<Tsunami Conductor>. A large tsunami smacked Yeon-woo’s chest.

“Kup!”

Yeon-woo couldn’t breathe, like his heart had been beat with a hammer. Benteke slid down the surface of the water, and wind blew around his spear as he thrust it forward.

<Vortex>. Benteke’s signature skill from before he became Poseidon’s apostle exploded.

It was a skill that blew Aura around, and it was known to be tricky to deal with because it could attack from both close and far range.

With Poseidon’s Authority on top of it with the River of Souls, it was powerful enough to create a hole inside a rock.

There were tens of those Vortexes. They looked like long thorns, coming down like rain.

Yeon-woo stopped all the Vortexes spreading his Aura apart. It was a skill called Sword Block in the One-horned tribe.

Kwakwakwang—

The fancy explosion made the air chaotic, and below, Benteke had reached right in front of Yeon-woo. He smiled brutally like a beast that had found prey running away and swung Triaina around him.

The sapphires on the spear shined. The Authority covered Yeon-woo.

Yeon-woo clenched his teeth, thinking that it would be really dangerous if this kept up. Fluttering his wings of fire and dragon wings, he caught his balance in the air, and he brought his left hand down on the ground.

Boom—

A deep ripple spread out along the surface. Ceto’s holy artifact, the Sea Water Charm, flashed.

A great amount of the holy power inside the artifact was used.

Suddenly, tens of sea king monsters jumped out and swallowed Benteke.

“These annoying things!”

Benteke crumpled his face at the large shadows that came at him and pulled the territory of the storm to him.

A tornado spouted up with Benteke at the center. The sea king monsters that had been after him were swept away, like a banana in a mixer.

Flesh without any form was blown away. The River of Souls turned red.

When the tornado settled down, Yeon-woo suddenly appeared from behind Benteke. Benteke tried to move away, but Vigrid pierced through his right chest.

Puk!

“Ha! Haha!”

Benteke’s face crumpled. However, it wasn’t a face of anger. Glee. Joy. It was a face that showed his entire body was pumping with adrenaline.

“Yeah. This is it! A fight like this. I needed this. Didn’t you need it too?”

Yeon-woo momentarily forgot he was wearing a mask and almost touched his face. Was he smiling right now? Or was he expressionless like always? He wanted to see a mirror.

“Your eyes are smiling. I’m curious about your face beyond that mask.”

However, he could check that anytime.

He didn’t want to lose an opportunity like this. Yeon-woo held Vigrid in his left hand and pushed it in even deeper.

“I’ll take your mask off.”

Just then, the jewels on Triaina began to change color. A navy blue hue was spreading inside of the clear transparent jewels. Once again, holy power was released.

Benteke didn’t care about Vigrid inside his body; rather, he pushed himself forward. Then, he extended his left hand to take off Yeon-woo’s mask. A maniacal laughter rang out.

Kwaang—

Yeon-woo and Benteke both fell together. As the surface of the water split, both of them reached the bottom of the sea.

Benteke who was pushing Yeon-woo down, and Yeon-woo was pushing him back. Their fight of strength caused shock waves to ripple out.

Authority clashed against Authority. The River of Souls tossed and sea monsters mixed together messily. Sea king monsters and sea monsters crashed against each other, and their bodies were ripped apart. Blood flowed out.

As the Authorities of Azrael, Agares, Athena, and a few other powerful gods and demons were released, the water of the River of Souls was pushed away. The River of Souls turned into pandemonium in an instant.

As time passed, Benteke’s strength became greater. It was a result of using more holy power as the jewels in Triaina turned navy blue.

When the jewels were completely navy blue, the rest of the holy power in Triaina was released. At that moment, Benteke’s level was increased exponentially.

<Sea God Descent>. As an apostle of a greater god like Poseidon, he had an unbelievable amount of strength. Also, through Channeling, he was able to use an immeasurable amount of power.

Benteke focused Poseidon’s Blessing that he had shared with his subordinates all on himself, and the Blessing became even more destructive in a short amount of time.

On the other hand, although Yeon-woo had the Authority of greater gods and greater demons, because he wasn’t an apostle, there were limits to how much he could Channel.

The Authorities that had been protecting Yeon-woo broke.

Benteke’s left hand grabbed Yeon-woo’s mask. Snap. And as he applied more force, the mask began to crack.

[Athena bursts up and shouts.]

[Athena urges you to quickly run away!]

[Athena gives you a Blessing.]

[It fails.]

[Azrael’s eyes widen.]

[Azrael frantically offers you an apostle position again.]

[Hermes looks at you.]

[Poseidon bursts out laughing.]

[All the gods within the godly society, ‘Olympus,’ are watching you.]

[Ceto silently watches you.]

Messages noisily popped up. The emotions that came from the gazes became intense.

‘It’s too loud.’

Yeon-woo was in a dangerous situation, but he just muttered in annoyance to himself.

He pulled out the remaining holy power in the Sea Water Charm and blew it inside Vigrid. Black Aura exploded. Like how a volcano exploded, a tall column of fire soared up from the sea bottom and reached the sky.

Within it, Benteke was swept away.

* * *

“Hew…..hew…..”

The Disaster that looked like the sky might come falling down settled down.

Yeon-woo appeared above water. He was panting roughly to himself, depending on his Wings of Fire.

His Magic Armor and mask were mostly ruined. The Sea Water Charm lost most of its holiness and was now only a simple necklace.

The fight with Benteke was too hard. He couldn’t guarantee victory even though he fought with all his strength.

However, even though his body was tired, he felt the frustration from dealing with Apophis’s shedding and the Cannibal Monster King fading away.

Also, Yeon-woo was able to judge his abilities once again.

It was true that Benteke was skilled enough to be called the Ruler, but there were still people who were as powerful as him on the higher floors.

He had met many rankers and high rankers in countless battles, but above, there were players who didn’t care about the lower floors. Benteke was nothing more than one of those players.

That was why Yeon-woo was grateful. As great as his potential had become, he felt motivated to become stronger again.

He looked in front of him with still eyes. While his mask and Magic Armor was being restored, something strange was happening in front of him.

Above the boiling River of Souls, the steam took on the form of a human. Bones were created, and muscles and flesh stuck together to become Benteke.

He was smiling brutally, holding the now black Triaina.

Yeon-woo frowned looking at him.

“Monster.”

“Kahalhal! The pot’s calling the kettle black. I can regenerate because I have Poseidon’s Blessing, but that’s not the case for you.”

The River of Souls was water. It was Poseidon’s territory. It was an advantageous battlefield for Benteke, and his regeneration ability was also outstanding.

However, he also looked exhausted. The aura he gave off was definitely lacking from before. The dark Triaina proved it.

“We weren’t able to have a victor, and I still haven’t heard about the necklace you have around your neck. Or who you are. Shouldn’t we continue?”

Poseidon aimed the end of Triaina at Yeon-woo again.

Yeon-woo lifted Vigrid as well. But he didn’t have as much strength as before. The Philosopher’s Stone was overheating itself, putting more firepower in him, but it couldn’t chase away his mental exhaustion.

Still, Yeon-woo felt a strange emotion.

Joy.

Because his body was tired, his instinct as a beast was waking up. It moved the cage that had been trapping it aside and slowly tried to step out.

Yeon-woo might’ve been smiling. His enemy didn’t disappear, and he was able to fight again.

“You lost your holy artifact. With Poseidon’s curse, your Authorities have been weakened. The same goes for me. All the holy power has been used, and my body is too messed up to accept Poseidon’s Blessing.”

Benteke seemed to replicate his feelings.

“Without any help from the outside, we can fight each other with the power that we actually have. Wouldn’t that be fun?”

“…….”

Yeon-woo just nodded silently.

Benteke looked flabbergasted.

“You’re such a quiet fellow. Well, I suppose it’s better than a chatterbox.”

Just before the two ran at each other like they had planned it beforehand…..

“……Hm? What’s this?”

Benteke stopped. Triaina shook in his hand. It should’ve been no different from a normal spear now that all the holy power was gone. He frowned at the strange phenomenon he had never seen before.

Then—

Checheche—

Triaina crumbled like a sandcastle being swept away by a wave, and the fine particles moved through Benteke’s fingers towards Yeon-woo.

“……!”

“……!”

While Benteke and Yeon-woo were both looking at it with widened eyes—

Only

Urrrng, urg—

Suddenly, the Black Bracelet on Yeon-woo’s right wrist, the bracelet of the Black King, vibrated.

Like iron powder following magnets, Triaina’s fine particles whirled around the Black King’s bracelet and wrapped around his left ankle.

Chrak, chrak—

Clunk! Clunk!

It became a black chain that was as dark as the night sky.