Ranker’s Return

Hyeonu lowered his head momentarily to avoid the blood wolf’s attacks. Simultaneously, he pivoted on his left foot and swung the Mysterious Sky Sword. The blood wolf who was trying to bite Hyeonu’s head was sliced in two at the waist.

[The blood wolf has been defeated.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

There was no time for Hyeonu to rest. Immediately after, another blood wolf struck at Hyeonu.

‘Ah, good.’

Hyeonu was actually happy with this situation though. If the monsters attacked him, the battle would end early, and he wouldn’t need to worry about the others.

“Master dude! Here I go!” Tang-E’s shout was heard from behind Hyeonu. Then a bright flash of light burst out. It was a much brighter light than when Tang-E appeared.

“Tang-E!!” Hyeonu yelled. Naturally, his eyes were now closed. Hyeonu’s eyes that had adapted to the darkness couldn’t withstand this light, but it was the same for the blood wolves. No, it was even worse. For them, the only light they were used to seeing was the moonlight.

“Yiip!” A dog’s bark emerged from the blood wolf’s mouth. These cries burst out again before even three seconds passed. It was because the blue lightning spear, which Tang-E had created, pierced the blood wolf’s body.

“Yelp!” 

Then Hyeonu slashed at the blood wolf whose current appearance was like that of a pig on a skewer.

[The blood wolf has been defeated.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

Once Tang-E joined in the battle, the blood wolves started to split up. Some of the surviving ones ran frantically toward Tang-E and the Pioneer Guild. It was the result of the aggro being divided. Hyeonu thought, ‘I need to help... No.’

Ket and Jewel had already taken on a formation and were blocking the blood wolves. It would’ve been dangerous if the black bats had also been there, but they were lying on the ground after being affected by Mysterious Sky Range. Seeing that, Hyeonu no longer paid attention to the Pioneer Guild and Tang-E. After all, there were still four blood wolves in front of him.

***

“Human, isn’t this too weak? Your bodies are sluggish, and your minds are dull. If you can’t react, shouldn’t you predict it?” Tang-E aimed spiteful words at Ket and Jewel while sitting comfortably on Maha’s shoulder.

It was an amazing move to lower the morale of his allies.

“Tsk, tsk. If it were Master dude, he would’ve cut at the legs and separated the waist to make the ground wet with blood.”

Maha’s face was frozen due to Tang-E’s continuous words. He told Tang-E, “Why don’t you stop now? They are working hard in their own way. It is pitiful compared to Alley Leader, but...”

However, upon a closer look, it was clear that Maha’s mouth was twitching. He was trying not to laugh.

“That jerk?” Jewel noticed it and gritted his teeth. There was nothing he could do about Maha when he still had to stop the three blood wolves. Jewel just had to continue gritting his teeth while defeating the blood wolves aiming for him.

“So I will help. I was taught to help the weak.” Tang-E placed a bead on Maha’s head and grabbed it with his front paws. Then he injected magic power into the bead and cast some magic. In the air, a smooth bead the size of Tang-E’s paws appeared. Looking up close, the surface of the bead had the carving of a fire pattern.

The blue bead headed toward the blood wolf in a chilling manner. Unsurprisingly, the blood wolf moved from side to side to try and avoid the blue bead, but Ket and Jewel restrained it. They swung their weapons to limit the blood wolf’s movements.

Tang-E’s delicate magic power control shone here, and the blue bead landed precisely on the blood wolf’s back. The bead broke, and a blue fire was transferred to the blood wolf’s fur, burning it quickly. The blood wolf’s body was used as fuel to light up the dark world.

“Kuoong! Kuoong!” The dog with its tail on fire—no, the wolf ran around.

After a moment, the wolf changed its strategy when it noticed the fire wouldn’t go out no matter how it ran. It started to roll around on the dark grass. Unfortunately for the wolf, this choice was the worst option.

“Bah, it’s nothing big,” Tang-E remarked. Immediately after, Tang-E’s bead once again emitted light, and little blue ice cones appeared in the air. They immediately aimed at the fallen blood wolf, piercing all over its body.

Water vapor instantly covered the blood wolf’s body and then disappeared after a while. The blood wolf could no longer move. It was dead.

[The blood wolf has been defeated.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

Maha laughed at the message that appeared in front of his eyes and thought, ‘Does this make sense?’

Tang-E seemed stronger than Asu. Alley Leader was a monster. His pet was also a monster.

‘Maybe he can hunt alone...’

Maha got a shock that was different from when he saw it in a video.

“Master dude seems to have finished hunting. Let’s go to Master dude.” When Tang-E spoke, Maha regained his senses and pulled from his amazement.

“I understand,” Maha said and walked toward Hyeonu with Tang-E on his shoulders.

***

Since then, more than 10 large-scale battles took place. The scale of the battles continued to increase as they got closer to the place covered in fog.

“Wow, I can see it now,” Hyeonu murmured in a happy voice.

Just like Hyeonu said, the party could now finally see the object shrouded in fog. It was a huge castle with walls that rose without an end and a pointed roof of the castle that went beyond them.

“It’s like a demon king’s castle? It is grand in size,” Nix remarked. 

Hyeonu agreed. The castle was very much like a demon king’s palace. Even if it wasn’t to that extent, it seemed the boss monster would be a pretty gloomy monster.

‘A demon king hasn’t emerged yet... So it can’t appear here. What is it?’

Hyeonu couldn’t make any guesses as to what it could be. When it came to dungeons, there was no issue more serious than what would emerge as the boss monster.

“The castle is so big... Won’t it take a while to get to the boss room?” Asu sighed.

The castle was huge. The silhouette they saw through the fog gave them a rough outline of its vastness.

“Isn’t the castle alone the size of an instance dungeon?” Hyeonu added to Asu’s sigh. Fortunately, nothing prevented them from entering through the gates.

“The gates are open,” Hyeonu stated.

The castle gates were completely open as if to greet the party. Hyeonu took the lead and held a brightly lit torch in his hand. Just after the previous battle ended, he remembered there was a torch in his inventory and had been carrying it since then. The moment they entered the castle through the gates, they could see the true identity of South Rock.

“Bloodsuckers.”

“Vampires.”

There were coffins placed all throughout the castle. As for which type of monsters might be in these coffins, that was obvious—the undead and vampires. However, the presence of the blood wolves and black bats outside the castle erased the option of the undead.

‘What a profit this is turning out to be!’

Hyeonu felt his mind awaken the moment he entered the castle. It was because seeing the coffins all over the castle made him remember a title he had.

[Viscount Vampire Killer]

[A title given to adventurers who kill a noble of the night, a vampire. The title will grow when hunting high-class vampires.

Effect: All stats +50, attack power against vampires will increase by 5%.]

‘Is today the day when I can upgrade my title?’

This was a great opportunity. Just this alone made clearing the dungeon with the Pioneer Guild rewarding for Hyeonu. It wasn’t a bad idea after all to waste this day on a dungeon hunt.

“From now on, Maha’s role will be important. Even if the boss isn’t a vampire, the other undead... Divine magic is very powerful against it.” Hyeonu looked at Maha who still had Tang-E on this shoulder.

Maha nodded with a confused expression at Hyeonu’s sudden words.

“Tang-E, stop it and come down. You’re burdening him,” Hyeonu spoke to Tang-E after seeing Maha’s expression.

“Understood, Master dude.” Tang-E jumped off Maha’s shoulder and landed quietly without making a single sound. Then he approached Hyeonu and poked him in the thigh. Hyeonu bent over and leaned his upper body forward. The golden bear quickly climbed up Hyeonu’s body and landed on his shoulder.

“Let’s go, Master dude.” Tang-E placed his chin on the top of Hyeonu’s head. It seemed that Tang-E just changed his means of transportation to something a bit more comfortable.

***

The castle was quiet.

It was the opposite of outside the castle where many monsters had attacked the party. In fact, it was completely contradictory. Even the word ‘peace’ went well with it. Hyeonu and the Pioneer Guild walked along a long corridor. No monsters had emerged so far, but the party couldn’t relax as they didn’t know when and where monsters might pop out.

“I can’t adapt.”

“It’s more disturbing because of the mood, right?”

Nix and Jewel complained about their anxiety due to the environment that had changed so rapidly. They were much more comfortable with fighting continuous battles. It was too nerve-racking not knowing when they would be hit.

“There is a possibility that this entire castle is a boss room, so don’t worry much. In addition, how many can there even appear in this castle?” Hyeonu spoke comfortable words. He was really relaxed and even playing with Tang-E on his shoulder.

“Believe in me,” Tang-E spoke while bouncing a bead on Hyeonu’s head.

Upon getting hit by Tang-E, Hyeonu knocked on the back of Tang-E’s head with the hand that wasn’t holding a torch. After Hyeonu hit once, a vague shadow appeared and struck Tang-E on the back of the head a second time.

“Damn, Master dude. I hit once yet you hit me two times. It is a foul!!”

There was no sign of trust be at all between them.

“If you hit once, you need to be prepared for two hits, Tang-E. The world is tough.” Hyeonu tapped Tang-E on the back of the head once more. Tang-E felt a tingling pain and heat from the back of his head.

“Ouch... Damn Master!!!” Tang-E got rid of the bead and started to hit Hyeonu’s head with the thick pads of his paws. Hyeonu just ignored Tang-E’s actions. It wasn’t a lot of pain, and it was enough to just play around with Tang-E.

‘I hope nothing appears until the real boss’ room,’ Hyeonu inwardly made a weak wish, and this wish became reality.

Nothing appeared as they reached the end of the long corridor. The closed coffins didn’t open, and people didn’t appear. They could arrive peacefully at the door at the end of the corridor.

“Is this the last one?” Ket prayed while pushing open the door.