Ranker's Return

Hyeonu repeated the same words countless times in his mind in the span of less than a few seconds.

‘Let’s not get immersed. If I get immersed, I will lose.’

It was a pledge he made every time he fought Alexander, who was dressed up as a black knight, even though he never kept it.

‘There are plenty of possibilities.’

The current battle was very different from the one that took place in the imperial palace. First of all, neither Alexander nor Hyeonu used their full power. Alexander only showed the same level of power that John Blake had shown previously, and Hyeonu also only showed the level of power the general public knew he had. Naturally, if Hyeonu did well, it wouldn’t be difficult to deal one or two blows to Alexander.

‘So why isn’t it working?’

The words were easy to think, but the walls of reality were too high. He never managed to hit Alexander with a proper attack. While Hyeonu was immersed in his thoughts, he arrived near Alexander.

‘It will really start from now on.’

Hyeonu gulped heavily as he examined Alexander’s appearance. The number of times he fought Alexander had already exceeded 10 and was approaching 20, but his tension hadn’t disappeared at all. Rather, it became heavier the more battles they had.

Hyeonu kept his mouth shut and pulled out the Mixed Sky Sword. His live stream was on, so he couldn’t have a conversation with Alexander even if he wanted to. All he could to do was start the battle.

In accordance with Hyeonu’s actions, Alexander also drew his sword. It wasn’t the seven-colored sword that the black knight had been seen with previously but a long sword that was tinged with black light.

Hyeonu swung his sword toward Alexander without any hesitation, firing dozens of pure energies at Alexander. The air buzzed like a swarm of bees had appeared. Alexander stepped forward and naturally swung his sword at the flying pure energies. Every time Alexander’s sword struck, the pure energies were destroyed one after another. While Alexander was doing that, Hyeonu quickly clung to him.

‘This is the best option.’

It was much better to induce melee combat than to use strong pure energy or other skills from a distance. After all, it wouldn’t work even if he attacked a hundred times or a thousand times from a long distance.

‘I will definitely win today.’

Hyeonu rushed at Alexander while gripping the Mixed Sky Sword tightly with one hand. He behaved deceptively as he moved stealthily like a ghost. In the next instant, Hyeonu arrived above Alexander’s head and slammed down the Mixed Sky Sword without hesitation.

Alexander raised his sword to lightly block Hyeonu’s slash. Then he flicked his sword. Suddenly, a large amount of power rushed at Hyeonu. Hyeonu kicked in the air, did a somersault, and deflected Alexander’s power.

Alexander pushed Hyeonu without stopping. He jumped off the ground and raised his sword from bottom to top toward Hyeonu.

‘I have to avoid this.’

Hyeonu instinctively twisted his body when he saw the sword approaching with a creepy trajectory. The black sword grazed his body. Feeling a sensation from the fine hair on his body, Hyeonu swung the Mixed Sky Sword in his hand toward Alexander.

However, Alexander had already retrieved his sword. Thanks to this, he easily blocked Hyeonu’s attack. Hyeonu swung the Mixed Sky Sword several more times from the same position. Despite that, Alexander didn’t budge at all; he stood still and endured all of Hyeonu’s attacks.

At this moment, Hyeonu’s body fell rapidly.

‘Magic power...’

Hyeonu needed to have quite a lot of magic power and concentration to continue fighting in midair. It was better to devote all this concentration and magic power to combat instead. Alexander followed Hyeonu and descended to the ground. However, his speed was twice as fast as Hyeonu’s. He started falling later than Hyeonu, but he was overwhelmingly fast the moment he touched the ground. Alexander raised his sword toward Hyeonu, who was still in the air.

‘Damn.’ Hyeonu frowned when he saw the approaching sword. Even so, he held out his Mixed Sky Sword to block Alexander’s sword. Hyeonu’s body was pushed backward, and Alexander ran toward Hyeonu once again.

‘Okay. He was caught.’ Hyeonu smiled at Alexander’s appearance before his posture changed drastically.

He stopped in an instant as if it had been a joke that Alexander had pushed him so far. Then Hyeonu swung the Mixed Sky Sword very quickly, creating the illusion that the world was split in two.

This was a secret skill that only the commander of the Knights of Keon learned—Cutting the Moonlight.

Just then, Alexander stopped in the middle of his swift charge toward Hyeonu, and a black energy spread out in all directions. The space that Hyeonu had just been cutting shattered.

“How?” Hyeonu muttered with wide eyes as he stood in place like he had forgotten that he was in battle.

-When it comes to dealing with magic power attributes... It isn’t difficult, Duke Gang Hyeonu, Alexander’s voice echoed in Hyeonu’s mind.

‘This...’ Hyeonu couldn’t hide his bewilderment. This was far beyond the expected range.

‘This has never happened before...’

Today wasn’t the first time he had used Cutting the Moonlight. He had used it countless times before. Yet during those times, it was only blocked with the sword or dodged. This was the first time Alexander used magic power to destroy it.

-I think today will be the last time... Shouldn’t we try it without leaving anything to be desired? Alexander’s voice rang out again while Hyeonu was still doubting it.

‘The last time? Is Alexander going back?’

Hyeonu frowned as he tried to figure out what Alexander meant.

‘He is going to the Holy Kingdom.’

It didn’t take long for Hyeonu to understand what Alexander meant.

‘It must be more difficult.’

Hyeonu realized it instinctively. It had become much harder to deal the one blow that he so desired. Nevertheless, he didn’t give up.

‘Around one buff is okay, right?’

He was thinking about revealing one of the things he had kept hidden.

[Acknowledged Giant has been used.]

[All stats have increased.]

The energy flowing from Hyeonu’s body changed.

-Now, this is worth seeing. Though, it is still lacking compared to what I saw at the imperial palace.

Alexander felt it and smiled.

‘I have no intention of showing that here.’ Hyeonu gave an answer that Alexander couldn’t hear and kicked off from the ground.

Hyeonu’s figure disappeared in an instant. Then he reappeared right in front of Alexander. The Mixed Sky Sword, which was covered in purple pure energy, tore apart the space. It was on a different level of power from before. Nevertheless, Hyeonu wasn’t the only one who changed.

Alexander swung his sword violently. It was engulfed in a pitch black pure energy that seemed to suck in light. Deafening explosions and shockwaves enveloped the battlefield. The battlefield fell silent in an instant.

The players and NPCs glanced at the walls at the same time. Even the undead with relatively poor intelligence instinctively backed away. The aftermath of Hyeonu’s clash with Alexander was enormous.

“Should we back off?”

“I don’t want to explode like a shrimp because I am caught up in it....”

“Let’s take a look and fall back. I think they are going to step back as well.”

The players and NPCs chose to retreat relatively quickly. They didn’t know how long the fight between Hyeonu and Alexander would go on for, but they knew that just standing here right now was a very dangerous thing to do.

“Everyone, retreat. We’ll reconvene at the base.”

It was the same with the undead army. The Venom Guild, including Kalen, and the high-ranking undead quickly left the battlefield with the undead under their command.

‘It is awful.’

Hyeonu didn’t notice any change in the battlefield. It was because he focused all his attention on the opponent in front of him, Alexander.

‘It is still better than before.’

Hyeonu felt that the battle had become a bit easier. It was natural. Alexander hadn’t shown it outwardly, but he had used his magic power to fight from the very beginning. Even if the magic power became tangible, it merely increased the ways to fight; it didn’t make him stronger.

Meanwhile, Hyeonu was different. Thanks to the giant buff, he gained a power he didn’t have before.

‘I am going to deal him one blow in this state.’

Hyeonu got drunk on a feeling he hadn’t felt in a long time and continued the battle. He swung the Mixed Sky Sword everywhere his hands went and moved his feet. The result…

“Groan...” Hyeonu coughed up blood as he collapsed on the ground. This was the result of receiving hits from Alexander’s pure energy.

-It was no different from a dog fight... It was fun in its own way. That is it for today. Alexander left the battlefield with a word of goodbye to the fallen Hyeonu.

-Alley Leader managed to stop him today.

-This is blocking him, right?

-I can’t get used to it even though I’ve seen it every time.

-Then why didn’t the black knight kill Alley Leader?

-Originally, he doesn’t really kill. So far, the Kowloons are the only ones that the black knight killed, right?

-Is that so? In any case, it was cool today.

The viewers talked a lot about Hyeonu, who was left alone.

***

Hyeonu, Yeongchan, and Reina were riding in a vehicle that was speeding down the road.

“Hey, relax your face,” Yeongchan said to Hyeonu, who had a stiff expression. “We are on our way to play. It is also your celebration party. Hey, what will the others be like if you join the party in this state? Right?”

Following Kim Seokjung’s suggestion to have a celebratory party for Hyeonu, they were on their way to the airport for their departure. Like Yeongchan, Reina comforted Hyeonu, “Yes, people can’t always win.”

“It isn’t because of that.” Hyeonu shook his head incredulously. His defeat to Alexander was nothing. It was a natural result. Just a few months ago, he poured out everything and was helplessly defeated. He fought against such an enemy with his strength hidden, so he would have no conscience if he wanted to win despite that.

“Then why are you like this?”

“It is because I’m worried about how much I am going to drink today, dude.”

“Ah... Fair enough. I admit it.” Yeongchan was persuaded in an instant. He could fully understand Hyeonu’s worries. Hyeonu would definitely have to drink with the two monsters, Kim Seokjung and Gang Junggu, after getting on the plane.

Yeongchan thought, ‘If it were me, I would be able to back out in moderation, but...’

Hyeonu could never do that. Those two people would never let Hyeonu off.

Reina was unaware of the situation, so she asked with wide eyes, “Why? What do you mean?”

Yeongchan stepped in and started to answer Reina’s curiosity: “Reina, you always come separately, so you don’t know... They will start drinking alcohol from the moment they get on the plane and start talking.”

“Why? You won’t die from that, right?”

“What if it is from when the plane takes off till when it lands?”

“......!!” Reina couldn’t speak.

“Did you bring any hangover medicine?”

“It is in my bag. I will take it at the airport later.”

Suddenly, Hyeonu’s stiff expression relaxed. What caused his expression to change like this?

“Hey, Brother.”

It was from the moment he met Kim Seokjung, who welcomed Hyeonu at the entrance of the airport.

“Hyung-nim, I’m here.” Hyeonu smiled brightly and ran to Kim Seokjung.