Ranker Who Lives Twice

Dududu…! The blue sky quaked, covered in the dust rising from the ground below. Black lightning rained down onto the ground, heating the atmosphere. The heat wasn’t able to escape anywhere, causing a greenhouse effect, and the planet became more similar to hell. Hellfire erupted between the cracked ground. From the planet’s perspective, this could only be described with a single word: disaster.

『Dammit!』

『Kronos! What is the meaning of this?!』

『Does Olympus really want Asgard as an enemy?』

『This will never be forgiven!』

The Brynhildr Kingdom was a rather special territory to Asgard. Because it overlapped with the territories of Deva, Olympus, and Memphis, there were a significant number of soldiers always keeping watch. However, those efforts were rendered futile in front of a single person.

『Hahaha! It was a good choice to abandon the Night and switch over to you! I never thought I’d witness such crazy events in quick succession!』The Crawling Chaos exploded in laughter, watching through Yeon-woo’s eyes, as the Brynhildr Kingdom collapsed.

After he suggested they search for Father together, Yeon-woo hadn’t given any response and just moved to take action. He headed for other societies’ territories.

Most gods were very attached to their territories, so it wasn’t strange for any trespassers to be eliminated immediately. However, the gods who realized the identity of the body Yeon-woo currently possessed simply warned him to step away.

Sorry, but I’m going to make a mess of this place. You should all escape.

…?

The owner of this body will take care of the compensations, so don’t worry about that. They say fathers are supposed to fix their sons’ mistakes, right?

But Yeon-woo just calmly told the gods to leave if they didn’t want to get hurt. Of course, the owners of the territories were infuriated. But Yeon-woo excused his actions by saying he’d already warned them, so they were responsible for the aftermath… And no planet could possibly withstand Sky Wings and Sword Thunder.

Yeon-woo’s powers were on a “king-level,” so he could crush most planets with his eyes closed. Now, he was attacking the planet with all his strength, so there was nothing the lower-level gods could do about it… After the planet was in ruins, Yeon-woo traveled through other planets and caused all sorts of trouble.

The Crawling Chaos was astounded. He was the one to say they should find and awake Father together, but Yeon-woo had thought of it first. But Yeon-woo hadn’t responded to his suggestion and was now tearing through innocent societies, essentially holding up a neon sign pointing the way for the Heavenly Demon to find him. The Crawling Chaos wondered if this was a new way to commit suicide, but he quickly caught onto Yeon-woo’s plan.『Yes. Pandemonium can be covered up with greater pandemonium! Hahaha!』

The louder the Crawling Chaos’ laughter, the more annoyed Yeon-woo became. He muttered, “I didn’t want to do anything this bothersome either.”

[1:45:33_20]

[1:45:33_19]

…

Yeon-woo became even more dizzy with every second that ticked down.

Yeon-woo’s target was where the Black King was buried. It was dangerous because it could potentially ruin what Uranus and the Day had been trying to protect for so long, but he wasn’t in the position to be picky. He just needed to escape the Heavenly Demon and end Kronos’ legends.

Of course, Yeon-woo knew the Black King was trapped in emptiness. However, the emptiness was vast. It roamed around in the universes of both Day and Night. It would take too long to find the Black King’s location in a place that didn’t have any coordinates or directions, even if the Crawling Chaos helped him. Those were the very reasons that Yeon-woo had stuck Mother Earth in emptiness.

‘It is impossible to search for the Black King with the current time limit… And I can’t attempt to enter abyss while I’m possessing this body. I don’t know how much the time difference will be either.’

Harmonia wouldn’t be in this time period, but that didn’t mean there wouldn’t be other successors of the Black King guarding the “door.” Even if there wasn’t a doorkeeper, opening the door was another matter.

‘Grandfather probably won’t tell me how to open it even if I ask him now.’

Uranus loved his children and grandchildren, but he kept personal and official matters separate. Even if it was a way for Yeon-woo to survive, if Yeon-woo asked Uranus to betray his purpose and mission in life, Yeon-woo would just be beaten up.

However, fortunately, there were beings who knew where the Black King was buried. No, even if they didn’t know the location, they would have clues about it… The gods and demons of death were creatures who followed the Black King in the universe of Day.

As Yeon-woo gained the Casts of the Black King, one by one, they would show interest in him. Although they were affiliated with their own societies and factions, they didn’t seem to care about that as they occasionally presented Yeon-woo with trials or shared their powers with him. They even seemed to acknowledge him as their leader now… But even so, they showed hostility toward the other group that worshipped the Black King, the otherworld gods. If Yeon-woo could contact them, he’d find some answers.

‘The problem is that it’s near impossible to find them in this vast universe.’ With that concern in mind, Yeon-woo switched up his plan. ‘If I can’t find them, I can make it so they have to gather together.’

Yeon-woo’s eyes darkened. ‘I can just cause chaos so no one knows what I’ll do next.’ When he was up against powerful beings, his strategy had always been to cause chaos if the situation wasn’t in his favor and prevent anyone else from getting what they wanted. It was to slow down the judgment of his opponent and for him to hide his own cards.

Now, Yeon-woo was intentionally causing trouble and bringing in other societies separate from the Heavenly Demon and Day to cause chaos. As the Crawling Chaos said, he was covering up pandemonium with even greater pandemonium.

『Then, can I assume that you intend to awake Father?』The Crawling Chaos realized Yeon-woo’s plans and smiled. However, Yeon-woo didn’t respond again.

『Is there something else you’re planning?』The Crawling Chaos chuckled.『Well, fine. Even if you’re just pretending to wake Father, there’s nothing I can do about it. No, the deceptions and strategies that’ll occur during the process might be more amusing.』

“…” Yeon-woo stayed quiet.

It seemed, unlike the other beings of the Night, the Crawling Chaos didn’t seem that loyal to the Black King. Sometimes he expressed ideas that seemed impertinent toward someone he considered his father. But just as the gods and demons of Day all had different personalities, the otherworld gods probably didn’t all mindlessly follow the Black King.

Yeon-woo decided not to think about them any further. Right now, it was more important to focus on walking this risky tightrope. If he took a single misstep, he’d die.

“He’s coming.”

Rumble!

[The Heavenly Demon manifests!]

Rays of golden light pierced through the planet’s dust clouds onto the ground.

『…Heavenly Demon?』

『Heavenly Demon?』

『What…!』

The gods of Asgard, who were waiting for support as they surrounded Yeon-woo, gasped at the aura of the unexpected creature. They had their hands full with Yeon-woo already, so they wondered why the Heavenly Demon, the common enemy of all gods, was here.

Not caring about the gods’ surprise, the Heavenly Demon descended from the light. He growled as he swept his hair with an annoyed face. His clothes and face were dirty, showing how much he had run around until now. “Does this bastard think I’m his dog that will chase after him?”

The Heavenly Demon arrived a step behind the chaos Yeon-woo had caused and had to go through many pains. He should’ve been able to find Yeon-woo instantly with his light, but strangely, Yeon-woo continued to evade him. When he actually managed to find Yeon-woo, it was too late. Then, when he tried to chase after Yeon-woo again, the support forces that arrived thought he was the one who had caused all the trouble… So, the Heavenly Demon had fought multiple unplanned battles with multiple gods and societies. He was only able to chase Yeon-woo after defeating all of them, so he wasn’t able to gain any speed.

The Heavenly Demon repeated this again and again, and had barely managed to catch Yeon-woo’s tail. The reason why he looked like he hadn’t washed in days was all because of Yeon-woo.

But upon looking around, the Heavenly Demon realized his current situation wasn’t looking up either.

[Heimdal manifests!]

[Tyr manifests!]

[Thor manifests!]

…

[The godly society <Asgard> reveals its headquarters!]

The dusty sky shook, and a massive castle appeared. It was Valhalla, the palace where Thor and other high-leveled gods of Asgard resided.

『I heard the youngest son of Olympus’ supreme god made trouble and was wondering what kind of nonsense that was… Heavenly Demon, you were involved in it?』Odin’s furious voice boomed from Valhalla.

The Heavenly Demon’s face crumpled. They seemed to think the damage occurring across the universe was caused by him, not Uranus’ youngest son who wasn’t even an adult yet, since that seemed like a more plausible explanation. The Heavenly Demon was already frustrated and angry after fighting multiple battles he didn’t need to, so this didn’t help at all.

[The godly society <Asgard> declares war on the Heavenly Demon!]

[Odin’s power <Observance of the Three Crows> activates!]

[Thor’s power <Lightning that Tears the Sky> activates!]

[Heimdal’s power <Seven Blades of the Rainbow> activates!]

The most courageous soldiers of Valhalla, the Einherjar, dashed for the Heavenly Demon.

“Dammit!”

The Heavenly Demon was about to explode his powers again when Yeon-woo suddenly used Open Speaking on him.『Heavenly Demon.』

『What, you bastard?』

『I have another present.』

『What…!』The Heavenly Demon was about to say “what kind of bullshit is that!” when pockets of emptiness suddenly opened around Valhalla. He was taken aback.

[The godly society <Deva> reveals its headquarters!]

[The godly society <Chan Sect> reveals its headquarters!]

[The godly society <Memphis> reveals its headquarters!]

…

The societies Yeon-woo had passed through were all connected, and all the godly societies had appeared. Dududu! The destruction of the planet was sped up by the pressure of all the gods.

[Many gods express hostility toward the Heavenly Demon, who had mocked them!]

They seemed angrier at the Heavenly Demon, who was likely behind all this, than Yeon-woo, who had picked the fight. No matter how powerful the Heavenly Demon was, it wasn’t easy to deal with all these gods at once.

When the Heavenly Demon tried to search for Yeon-woo again, he had already disappeared after using the barrier of Night. “Ahhhhhh! You son of a bitch!” The Heavenly Demon shouted, but it was drowned out by the explosions.

Rumble, rumble. Crash!