Ranker Who Lives Twice

[Cernunnos looks at the fragmented legends of the dead Vimalacitra with sorrow.]

[Cernunnos sighs at the fate of a being who was both his competitor and friend.]

Unlike most gods and demons, who expressed surprise at Vimalacitra’s death, Cernunnos conveyed his deep sadness.

Cernunnos, like Vimalacitra, had watched Yeon-woo’s rise for a long time. However, unlike Vimalacitra who felt a strong sense of competition with Yeon-woo and wished Yeon-woo to become stronger, Cernunnos largely observed Yeon-woo because of the sad fate of his Apostle.

The two beings surprisingly had a lot in common, which possibly allowed them to better empathize with each other. Cernunnos was also a being who was thoroughly alone, belonging to no heavenly society. It was not an exaggeration to say that Cernunnos best understood the troubles, boredom, and complex thoughts that Vimalacitra had and went through during his lifetime. Thus…

[Cernunnos is furious.]

For the first time, Cernunnos expressed an extreme emotion. He was angered that a ‘great’ being had met such a pitiful demise. It seemed, in Cernunnos’ view, a great death was dying for greater meaning and purpose, not a thoroughly lonely dog-like death.

[Cernunnos stomps on the ground and stands up!]

[Cernunnos declares that he will never forgive those involved in this matter!]

And then…

[Some gods look at Cernunnos with concern.]

[Various demons drool at the expectation of seeing the activity of the Black King’s ego and another great being.]

***

‘Why did Oceanus suddenly appear on Earth?’ Yeon-woo could not help but feel flabbergasted. ‘Oceanus was still considered missing during the time of Tartarus.’

Before Kronos’ emergence, Oceanus was considered the front runner as Uranus’ successor. At the time, Oceanus had a positive and wide-reaching reputation in Olympus, and his background bolstered his status. His personality was also outstanding, and his skills were excellent enough to be classified as a great god. More than anything, the advantage of being the ‘eldest’ was not something that could be easily ignored. The rule of firstborn succession, both in the past and in the present, was considered a justified and persuasive reason.

However, when the Olympus civil war broke out, Oceanus did not take the lead. This was because Theia, who knew that Oceanus was in the lead to succeed Uranus, took advantage of the chaotic situation to gather her other siblings and launch a coup.

Due to this, Oceanus was pushed out of power. Moreover, if it was not for the youngest, Rhea, keeping Theia in check, Oceanus’ life would have been in danger. Soon afterward, Rhea pulled Kronos into the fold, and the victory completely shifted over to their side.

Unfortunately, after these events, Oceanus renounced all his rights to the throne, stating that he was not fit to be a leader. While backing away from the spotlight, Oceanus supported Kronos and Rhea. Since then, Oceanus had avoided the spotlight and was largely forgotten by everyone. He barely had a presence…

‘Then, when Zeus rebelled, Oceanus briefly appeared to help clear the chaos in Olympus, but then he retreated into the background just as quickly as he had appeared. And then…’ Yeon-woo narrowed his eyes. ‘…he disappeared entirely.’

The entirety of Olympus was imprisoned in the Tower, so Oceanus must have been confined in the Tower as well. However, since his brief public appearance after Zeus’ rebellion, no one had seen or heard from Oceanus. A rumor circulated from somewhere that Oceanus had returned to the state of a ‘concept’ or ‘law’. In fact, there were quite a few Olympus gods who believed in this line of reasoning.

Returning to the essential fabric of natural order was a good choice for a docile being who did not like outside activities and showed a sense of detachment from power.

But for such an Oceanus to suddenly appear here? His appearance could only mean that Oceanus had been secretly planning something in hiding for a long time.

『…that’s strange.』

Hearing Kronos’ murmur, Yeon-woo lifted his head. “What are you talking about? What’s strange?”

『That guy, he doesn’t have the personality to make secretive plans in the dark. He was such a softy that he couldn’t even raise his voice at Theia when he was at war with her. Hmm…!』

“Are you close with Oceanus?”

『If one says we’re on good terms then it could be so. If one says we’re not on good terms, that could be seen as true as well. All of us didn’t really have much of a relationship with each other.』 Kronos gave a bitter laugh.

To unite the various societies and divine beings, Uranus adopted potential successors from various powers. Due to this large mix of disconnected figures, there was bound to be a war of nerves and some misgivings amongst the successors.

『Still, when I was young and full of mischief, he was the only person who stood on my side.』

Yeon-woo remembered the Oceanus he had seen while experiencing Kronos’ legends. There was certainly no one else who took care of Kronos like Oceanus. Also, Yeon-woo did not feel that Oceanus’ actions were done with a pretense for any other reason.

Kronos felt the same.『I feel that Oceanus was sincerely sorry when he forcibly tied Vimalacitra onto Earth. However, I don’t know how Oceanus got to be so strong… Since so much time has passed, I guess he found some way. The more important question is, who is the ‘we’ that he was alluding to? It’s clear that he’s definitely not acting alone.』

“We’ll have to chase after them.”

『Son, you’ll be very busy, no? You have to visit By the Table, be wary of and on the lookout for that suspicious goblin, and take care of your younger brother… Ugh!』

Yeon-woo lightly sighed. He had come out from the darkness to do some simple house cleaning. However, now that he was out, there was so much to do, so much holding him back from his original intention.

“For now, let’s deal with that thing again.” Yeon-woo looked at R’lyeh, which seemed to be staring at Yeon-woo and awaiting his response.

[The Black King’s ego looks up at his true body.]

[The Black King looks down at the part it lacks.]

Yeon-woo decided that, first off, he needed to control R’lyeh so that it did not go wild. Moreover, it was necessary to make sure that the Oceanus’ side did not interfere with R’lyeh. Yeon-woo did not have time to control R’lyeh, but now that the opportunity presented itself, Yeon-woo was focused on tightly sealing R’lyeh.

“Fill.” The moment Yeon-woo uttered those words using draconic speech…

Sss! Suddenly, dozens of huge black lumps bloomed all around the Black King. Soon, chains shot out from the black lumps and moved to restrain R’lyeh. The chains boasted a huge size and thickness, which were much larger and thicker than the ones Yeon-woo had previously used.

『…it’s a little frightening to see those things make their appearance on Earth…』 Kronos looked at the chains and softly muttered in a quavering voice.

[The gods who recognized the identity of the chain have nearly passed out screaming!]

[The demons who noticed the nature of the chain strongly question the sanity of the Black King’s ego!]

…

[The godly society, <Deva>, is in shock.]

[The godly society, <Chan Sect>, is thoroughly stunned by the actions of the Black King’s ego.]

…

[The demonic society, <Niflheim>, is perplexed but also intrigued by the fact that the allied forces have the most powerful weapon.]

…

The gods and demons were busy showing a wide variety of reactions. Their reactions were more intense than when Vimalacitra died or when R’lyeh just appeared.

The chains were a divine object that Yeon-woo had made using the remains of the Tower whenever he had spare time in the ‘dream’. It was no wonder why the gods and demons were showing such an extreme response.

[Modified Ruyi Bang made of Heavenly Divine Iron]

[Category: Unable to identify]

[Rank: Unmeasurable]

[Description: Made from the wreckage of the Tower/Ruyi Bang, which had stood tall for many years and sealed countless gods and demons. The Black King’s various egos expressed strong anger toward the Tower, a construct and cast that had imprisoned them, but, after considering one of the ego’s suggestions, they decided to utilize the Tower/Ruyi Bang’s wreckage. They decided to create something to one day seek revenge on the original owner of the material, the Heavenly Demon. Thus, the remains of the Tower/Ruyi Bang were filled with the Black King’s blessings and powers and reformed anew.]

[* Not measurable]

[* Not measurable]

[** Detailed information on the item cannot be displayed.]

『When you first suggested that those things should be collected and reconstituted into something else, I really thought you, even though you’re my son, had lost your marbles…』

While fighting the various characters that comprised the Black King, Yeon-woo made several preparations in case he had to leave the darkness and the Demonisms, and enter the world. One of them was recycling the remains of the Tower.

Naturally, the various characters that comprised the Black King strongly opposed his suggestion. It was because the remains represented a cursed abomination that led their ‘dreams’ to repeatedly fail, forcing them to constantly be thrown back into the void. However, the only person who agreed with Yeon-woo’s opinion was Sage.

Sage reinterpreted Yeon-woo’s suggestion to the others and stated that it may be befitting to return the favor to the Heavenly Demon using the same divine material that was used against them. Naturally, the response of all the other characters that comprised the Black King was positive after hearing this line of reasoning, and from that time on, the remains of the Tower became the belongings of the Black King.

As long as the system belonged to Yeon-woo, Yeon-woo would be assumed as the owner of the Tower’s wreckage, so it was not difficult for him to create a new form from the wreckage. And now, his creation has made its appearance!

[The emptiness has opened!]

[Divine Iron moves to constrain the set target.]

[The Black King tries to resist!]

Clank! As soon as R’lyeh became aware of the Divine Iron, it gave off a harsh cry. Even though R’lyeh did not have a soul, its instincts remained, so it reacted violently.

However, Yeon-woo did not care about this and strongly bound R’lyeh with chains and wrapped them around R’lyeh to form dozens of layers. With the sound of something like a pulley turning quickly, the chains tightened. They became so taut that it seemed the chains would break at any moment. The end of the chains moved in the direction where R’lyeh had originally been, Earth.

“Sleep.”

And according to the draconic utterance that followed, the chains tightened even tighter, forcing R’lyeh to be pulled towards Earth. It was by no means an easy task to forcibly pull an existence as large as the galaxy into Earth, but the chains were able to compress R’lyeh.

If the resistance coming from R’lyeh was too strong, and the fidelity of the chain was in jeopardy, a new chain was put over it, forcibly pressing down on R’lyeh once more.

During the process, some of the space surrounding R’lyeh collapsed, causing large and small damages, such as black holes, to appear. However, as time passed, the compression proceeded faster, and R’lyeh was eventually returned to its original form before sinking into Earth.

“Rewind.” Yeon-woo began to turn the ‘wheel’ to put R’lyeh back to sleep, since he did not want to take the chance of R’lyeh acting uncontrollably once more.

[The spring of time is operating fiercely!]

[Darkness has been imbued.]

[Attempting to connect to the ‘dream’]

[Failed.]

…

[Trying to reconnect to the ‘dream’]

[The connection was successful after applying the authority of the Black King’s ego.]

[You have gained the right to interfere with the ‘dream’.]

[The spring of time rewinds.]

[The wheel begins to turn.]

It was like rewinding a videotape.

The Earth and the solar system, which had almost been destroyed by the battle between Yeon-woo and Vimalacitra, began to return to their previous state. The broken asteroids and planets were restored, and the orbital axis of the planets returned to their normal positions.

As the dust that was released from Earth’s atmosphere returned, the active volcanoes subsided, the Earth was reformed, and the blue sea was recreated. The sky regained its original bright color again.

[The Apocalypse is canceled.]

[The rising ‘Promised Land’ has sunk back down.]

[Earth regains its integrity.]

[All gods are silent.]

[All demons remain silent.]

The gods and demons no longer seemed to have any response to the miracles that Yeon-woo had done.

In the past, even Kronos, the King of Gods, had to go through a considerable and arduous process with the help of Olympus to use the wheel and carry the burden of the reciprocal law of causality.

However, right now, Yeon-woo had operated the wheel of time by himself. He had easily gone beyond what Kronos had ever done before. Moreover, for the outside observer, it seemed like Yeon-woo was not even breaking a sweat.

The gods and demons were reminded, once again, that they could not measure Yeon-woo based on their worldview.

Sigh! Yeon-woo finished and lightly sighed.

However…

‘…that was difficult. I consumed much more darkness than I expected. I’ve lost about twenty percent of the law of causality reservoir that I need to manifest…’ Yeon-woo’s stiff facial expression did not loosen. ‘If I leave it like this, things can get dangerous. I need to hurry.’