Ranker Who Lives Twice

Kalatus’ lair, the floating castle Laputa, used to be located in the Illusory World at the center of the Dragon Labyrinth. Now that its caretaker, Uballa, was gone, it circled the skies of the fiftieth floor, hiding itself with an automatic stealth feature. But if it used up all of its stores of magic power, it wouldn’t be able to sustain the feature, and there was also a danger that it would crash into the stage. At the moment, though, it seemed to be functioning normally.

[‘Fire Wings’ is activating.]

[The winds of ‘Palm Leaf Fan’ are assisting with flight and direction.]

Yeon-woo spread his Fire Wings and flew to Laputa on a breeze that helped his speed increase. The wind also carried Brahm, Galliard, and Edora. Demon Beauty Castle didn’t try to follow them, since they had been ordered to wait on the ground, but their eyes widened.

Brahm safely landed in Laputa after Yeon-woo and exclaimed with astonishment. “The eldest of the Seven Demon Kings, the Bull Demon King, has many holy artifacts and treasure, but I heard the Palm Leaf Fan is the best among them. What a mysterious wind. How did you get your hands on it?”

“It just ended up that way.” He’d snatched the Palm Leaf Fan away after trying to stop the Lion King’s escape. By now, it had become completely synchronized with him.

[Palm Leaf Fan (Partial)]

[Category: Double-handed weapon]

[Rank: Holy artifact]

[Description: The eldest of the Seven Demon Kings, the Bull Demon King, gave this fan to his wife, Princess Iron Fan, as a wedding present. It is a treasure that has the ability to create winds that grow stronger with every stroke. One stroke will create strong gusts. Two will create rain storms. Three will create typhoons, and so on.

However, the Palm Leaf Fan is currently weak because it is not the complete original.]

[*Favor of Wind

Your possession of the fan gains you preferential treatment by the wind. The wind will follow you and your speed will naturally increase. As your proficiency increases, skills that resemble powers will be released.]

[*???

This option is unavailable for viewing since the fan is not the original. However, it can be released depending on your proficiency.]

[* ???

This option is unavailable since the fan is not the original.]

Yeon-woo only had a portion of the real Palm Leaf Fan, but it was still an incredible accomplishment.

“It’s thanks to the Stone of Gula, eh? Looks like the Gluttony guy was of some use.” Brahm carefully examined the wind with the curious eyes of a scholar. He quickly realized that the magic power that pulled the wind was sitting next to Yeon-woo’s heart: the Philosopher’s Stone. Just then, Brahm and Yeon-woo could hear the Gluttony Emperor’s despair in their heads.

「My stone! My stone! Give it back! Give it…aaaack!」 He screamed in pain in the middle of his sobbing, but his desire was still clear.

“What a noisy guy even though he’s already entered the Soul Collection. The others were like that, too. Ha! I guess kings will be kings.” Brahm chuckled.

The Soul Collection was quite loud not just because of the Gluttony Emperor, but also because of Magnus and Tom as well.

「How can a mortal do such a heinous thing?!」

「Please! Please let me go! I’ll do anything, so please…!」

Most of the souls that Yeon-woo absorbed lost their identities through the power of the Black King. However, just as Brahm said, the kings retained their identities even after becoming spirits, as if evidence of the power they had once wielded as rules of the Tower. Their will to survive blazed as they looked for a means of escape. However, Yeon-woo just scoffed as he watched them; there was no way they could get out. He already owned them, and the more they endured, the more pain they would suffer.

「My stone!」 The Gluttony Emperor was the most tenacious of them all. His soul had probably developed a lot because of his possession of the Soulstone, and he couldn’t let go of his obsession.

“If he’s awake, he should be worried about the fate of his people instead of the stone. Tsk!” Brahm looked flabbergasted. Castle Blood was burning at this very moment and the Spirit Guai were eating the souls of Blood Land.

Although the Gluttony Emperor was aware of this, he only squawked about the Soulstone like a parrot without even sparing a thought for his people or even his own child.

“But we have something useful too.”

[The power bound to the Throne of Death, ‘Purgatory Furnace’, has been revealed.]

「Kaaaacck! Aaaaak!」

「Please, stop! Stop! Aaaaack!」

「Kaaaaack! Save me! Save me! Or just kill me!」

Throne of Death was a divine position that ruled death and the Underworld, and it could control rebellious souls or ones that had committed many sins during their lives.

[Purgatory Furnace]

[Rank: Power]

[Description: The resentment and grudges of the souls are pulled out by hellfire, which burns the deeds of the souls to use as a source of energy.]

Yeon-woo could use the souls he owned to create magic power whenever he ran out. However, since he already had two Soulstones, it was extremely unlikely that would ever happen, so he used it simply as a way of torturing recalcitrant souls. It made it easier to read their thoughts and helped him extract useful information.

Each king had high-quality information, including the coordinates of each Outer Space where their clan houses were located, the sites of secret storage spaces, and more. In fact, it was thanks to the Purgatory Furnace that Shanon and Hanryeong tracked down Blood Land and the Elohim.

Yeon-woo also discovered information about hidden pieces that only the kings knew. He combined it with the information that Jeong-woo had and re-examined his method of climbing the remaining floors.

However, what Yeon-woo enjoyed the most was that his understanding of souls had deepened. ‘The mysteries of the soul are being uncovered.’ Yeon-woo had always used souls as tools despite having the Black King’s power and never tried to analyze them. Now that he had the Purgatory Furnace, things changed.

He could now investigate what souls were composed of, how the identities that lingered were activated, the patterns of their thinking and recognition, and so on.

The mysteries that had been hard to understand even with Brahm’s lessons and Dragon’s Knowledge were finally laid bare to him. If the identity of a soul were destroyed by his experiments, he could hand it over to Shanon or Hanryeong. Yeon-woo learned that souls were a useful resource and how he could avoid wasting them. .

“Sometimes, when I look into your thoughts I feel like I understand why Shanon goes on about your temperament.” Brahm read his thoughts and grinned before cutting his connection to the Soul Collection.

Yeon-woo grinned as well. “They’re useful.”

“Alright. If they’re useful, that’s good enough. The experimenter doesn’t have to bother himself with all their troubles, hoohoo!” Brahm laughed boisterously. Despite his words, he shared the same beliefs as Yeon-woo. He only opened up to Yeon-woo and Sesha, and he didn’t care about sacrificing others in the name of knowledge. “But…” He stopped laughing and narrowed his eyes. “Is Kalatus still quiet?”

Yeon-woo nodded. “Yes. I believe the damage to his soul itself was too great.”

“That’s the most tragic part.” Brahm licked his lips.

After Kalatus fell, Yeon-woo used Hades’ Spirit Eating Sword to absorb Kalatus’ corpse as well. Although his body had developed significantly, he hadn’t been able to restore Kalatus’ soul properly. It had fallen into abyss ever since it was bound to the Crawling Chaos. Even when Yeon-woo fed him black energy and tried to trigger his memories, Kalatus’ soul became unstable as though it would shatter at any moment, so he had to stop. “I’ll have to find a way later.”

“Of course.”

There was still much to learn from Kalatus, so Yeon-woo was planning on restoring his soul through any method he could try. Wouldn’t there be a way if he analyzed the souls one by one? If that didn’t work, he expected the Black King’s power to open a new route after he became more proficient in it. “Besides that…” Yeon-woo laughed again, and scanned their surroundings. Laputa was in ruins.

It had collapsed after Kalatus had been summoned forcibly, and it would take a lot of time and resources to restore it. “The infection of the Crawling Chaos appears to have progressed.”

The Crawling Chaos had left so much holy power behind that Kalatus’ energy paled in comparison. It was difficult to distinguish the place from a dragon’s lair or a temple worshipping the Crawling Chaos. If he’d arrived a little later, he would have entered the Crawling Chaos’ territory.

‘Purification needs to happen before restoration.’ Yeon-woo narrowed his eyes. ‘Oh well.’ Thinking to himself that he would need to restore everything slowly, he waved his hand in the air.

[A new user is attempting to access the operating system.]

[The system recognizes the new user.]

[Dragon Root (Uballa) confirmed.]

[The new user has been registered.]

[Welcome, ###.]

The operating system controlling Laputa entered Yeon-woo’s hands through the recognition of the Dragon Root. Since Yeon-woo had already been acknowledged as the new owner of the labyrinth, the registration process was simple. He could now easily control Laputa wherever he was, just like Boo’s dungeon. The new master of the lair had arrived.

[With your authorization, the route to Arthia’s clan house is being opened.]

Through the settings, Yeon-woo opened the path to Arthia, which was hidden in the deepest part of Laputa. When he stepped forward, his surroundings changed, and he saw a large house up ahead.

* * *

Before Arthia’s clan house had been built, it was first designed with the clan members’ best interests in mind. There was a laboratory, an archive, a storehouse, a weapons room, a lounge, dorms, and a training area. Each area was designed according to need, and there were private spaces for each clan member, as well.

Originally, it had been an Outer Space completely separate from Laputa, but after the clan members left, Jeong-woo returned to Laputa, which was filled with memories with Kalatus. He reset the clan house’s coordinates to this location.

‘The infection has spread all the way here.’ The Crawling Chaos’ infection had invaded the center of Laputa, and even the clan house had turned black. The entity’s holy power squirmed like a living being to block the trespasser. “It’ll eat whatever is close by.”

“It already has an independent existence.” Brahm narrowed his eyes at the ominously squirming holy power. Edora grimaced as she viewed it through her Insight. The holy power sensed Yeon-woo and the other and began to approach them, opening its mouth to show its fangs as it prepared to extend its tentacles.

“Let’s get rid of it quickly.” Brahm pulled out his Book of Mars, Galliard drew his bow, and Edora unsheathed Divine Evil as they stepped forward. Yeon-woo brandished Vigrid as well.

[The power bound to Throne of Death, ‘Hell Tribulation’, is being activated.]

[The element of ‘Holy Fire’ has been added!]

The flames from hell spread along the ground in waves. With the addition of Holy Fire, the black fire instantly burned up the holy power, scattering it into ashes as it was purified. Clack, clack!

[‘Hades’ Spirit Eating Sword’ is absorbing the Crawling Chaos’ holy power!]

Yeon-woo slowly walked forward with his left hand extended, absorbing the remnants of the holy power.