Ranker’s Return

‘Who is it?’

Hyeonu shifted his vigilance toward the individual who avoided his senses and appeared. No matter how focused he was on cooking the meat, he didn’t loosen his mind enough to stop watching his back. Hyeonu used Mysterious Sky Steps and quickly moved to Tang-E’s side. At the same time, he turned his head in the direction where the voice was heard.

“Demon?” It was a humanoid figure who entered Hyeonu’s eyes. It was an individual with dark skin unique to the demon race. The unusual thing was that his eyes and hair were a dark purple.

“Demon? Are you talking about me? Right now, the meat is in front of you, so I will hold back. The next time you bark like a dog, your two lives will be done. Or you can come up with some fresh dog noises.” The eyes of the male individual with purple hair met Hyeonu’s.

Thump.

Hyeonu heard the loud illusive sound of something falling in his ears. Obviously, there was no object that had fallen, yet such a sound was heard in Hyeonu’s ears. 

“This guy? The meat is going to burn.” The male individual with the purple hair seemed anxious that Hyeonu wasn’t turning off the fire and reached out to the branches that were still emitting heat. The moment the male individual reached out, the branches disappeared. It literally disappeared. They didn’t even turn into powder. It was gone as if it had been erased by an eraser.

Hyeonu realized it when he saw it—the unknown male individual in front of him was a monster; a monster like the emperor or Lebron. ‘Maybe it is more than them.’

It was very likely. They had never caused such a strange phenomenon.

“Who are you?” Hyeonu asked the purple-haired male individual without putting away his fork. 

The male individual approached naturally and grabbed the fork from Hyeonu’s hand. “What is the point of knowing? Why? Are you curious?”

The male individual grabbed the meat from the stone plate with the fork and brought it to his mouth. Then he slowly felt the taste of the meat. “Ah, this is really delicious. It is almost the best meat I’ve eaten in my life, the best.”

The purple-haired male individual tasted Hyeonu’s steak and he was full of praise. One time, two times—the male individual continued to pick up the pieces of steak.

Tang-E was watching blankly, only to come to his senses. For Tang-E, the identity of the individual didn’t matter. The most important thing was that the amount of meat he could eat was shrinking. Tang-E quickly picked up the meat with a fork. He ate three at a time. Tang-E’s expression changed as he ate the meat quickly.

The male individual had a slightly stiff expression. Then he also increased the speed at which he moved the fork. The stone plate was soon clean.

Tang-E and the violet-haired male individual quickly cut all the meat.

“Have you finished?” Hyeonu confirmed that the male individual had put down the fork and opened his mouth.

“It was a very delicious meal. The meat was cooked in moderation and the saltiness is just to my taste. Yes, you want to know who I am?” The individual looked very satisfied.

“Yes.” Hyeonu nodded. It was beneficial to know such a strong person. It would help one day.

“My name is Callioraks. The one who claims to be the source of the demon world. I am also the only dragon in the demon world. I am probably older than anyone you know, so don’t think about speaking informally.” The male individual with the purple hair, Callioraks, was cool. His self-introduction was perfect from beginning to end.

‘The only dragon in the demon world, Callioraks.’ Hyeonu repeatedly mused over Callioraks’ name. He was planning to ask other people about it later.

“Then why are you here? The only dragon in the demon world...” Hyeonu continued to ask Callioraks questions to resolve his doubts.

Callioraks replied with a smile, “Why am I here? Just know that there is a situation. I have something to find.”

Hyeonu listened to Callioraks’ words and fell into thought.

‘What is he looking for? Is it perhaps a quest?’

He thought it was possible. It wasn’t bad to try it. It would be best if he got a quest.

“Can you tell me what you are looking for? I want to help if I can.” Hyeonu carefully conveyed his will to Callioraks.

“You? Um... Yes, then come here.” Callioraks beckoned to Hyeonu. Hyeonu approached Callioraks. Callioraks placed his hand on Hyeonu’s head like it was natural. A purple energy emerged from Callioraks’ body and entered Hyeonu’s head.

“That's it. I don’t think it is possible, but if you find what I’m looking for... I will give you a reward. Oh, I will add something for the meat I ate today at that time.” Callioraks disappeared with a leisurely wave of his hand. He was swaying his arms by his side as he walked, but it was very fast. It felt like he folded the ground as he moved dozens of meters with a single step.

‘What does he mean?’ Hyeonu’s expression distorted when he saw Callioraks disappearing as suddenly as he showed up. He wanted to receive a quest, but there was nothing.

“Shit!” Hyeonu kicked the wall. Just then, a message window rose in front of Hyeonu’s eyes.

[A quest has been created.]

[Callioraks’ Long Cherished Desire]

[Callioraks, the only dragon in the demon world, is wandering the entire demon world in search of something. Find what Callioraks is looking for to get a reward.

Rating: SSS+

Conditions: Find what Callioraks is looking for 0/1]

Rewards: Experience, Callioraks’ reward.]

‘What?’

Hyeonu was perplexed by the quest that was suddenly created. The quest clear condition was strange. He had to find something he didn’t know and the quest would be over.

‘Well, it is still good.’

Nevertheless, Hyeonu didn’t care much. So what if the conditions were strange? It was beneficial for him.

‘Let’s start hunting again.’

Hyeonu roughly arranged his spot and prepared to move again. There was an unexpected income, so this hunt was also successful.

***

There was an end to the dungeon that seemed endless. Deep in the Secret Garden of the Rollan Forest was the darkness bognet queen. The darkness bognet queen was more than 10 times larger than an ordinary darkness bognet. Additionally, there were hundreds of darkness bognets around the darkness bognet queen. There were also thousands or tens of thousands of eggs behind the darkness bognet queen.

‘Should I start with the eggs?’ Hyeonu thought about how to get through the challenge that was right in front of him. Their combat power was close to 0 at this time, but it was best to deal with the eggs that might cause problems in the future.

‘However, if I attack, the darkness bognets will block it with their bodies.

“Tang-E!!” The solution was Tang-E. Tang-E was a wide-area magic specialist. It didn’t matter if it was fire, ice, or lightning. Tang-E could smash them all with magic.

“What is it this time, Master dude?!” Tang-E stuck closely to Hyeonu’s back and screamed. His loud voice attracted the gaze of the darkness bognets.

“What’s wrong? Can’t you see them looking at you right now?” Hyeonu turned his head to Tang-E, who had a frightened face.

“Why? Aren’t you going to kill them anyway? Why are you like this, Master dude?” Tang-E expressed rather confidently. He seemed to be asking what was wrong.

“What? Then you can fight in front of me.”

“There is no such thing. I am the one who takes care of Master dude’s back.”

Tang-E hugged Hyeonu’s neck even more strongly. Hyeonu felt a willingness to never let go from the action. Hyeonu frowned and told Tang-E about his role, “Use all your magic power without leaving any of it behind. I’ll take care of the rest.”

Consume all the magic power and hang from Hyeonu’s body. This was Tang-E’s role in the battle.

Tang-E answered confidently, “Understood, Master dude. Tang-E will do it correctly.” 

In this case, he didn’t have to worry about anything else. Tang-E placed a golden Heart over Hyeonu’s head and started to inject magic power.

‘It will take a while to cast magic...’

Hyeonu felt Tang-E’s magic power pulsing and decided to strike first. He summoned the magic spirit and prepared for battle. Then he pulled out the Mysterious Sky Sword and pointed it at the darkness bognet queen in the distance. Pure energy that was over dozens of meters long appeared high in the air. It was a sword with a darker and more colorful pattern than the ones used before. The increased stats from summoning the magic spirit changed the sword. 

The giant sword fell at a rapid pace. In an instant, it fell toward the darkness bognet queen’s back. A huge crashing sound occurred. Hyeonu’s expression when he saw it wasn’t very good.

‘If it dies so soon, it won’t be a boss monster or something like that.’

The darkness bognet queen had created a huge shield the moment the giant sword targeted her back. As a result, the darkness bognet queen was barely harmed by the sword. Of course, it was only her alone that was fine. The surrounding eggs, as well as the regular darkness bognets, were killed or seriously injured by the shockwaves created when the sword and queen’s shield met.

Just then, Hyeonu’s vision turned white. Tang-E’s Lightning was finally ready and it showed itself. There wasn’t just one lightning bolt. It came continuously. The number was close to dozens. Tang-E’s magic was a natural disaster for the darkness bognets.

“Isn’t this too much?” Hyeonu asked while smiling bitterly. This was definitely too much for Tang-E. It wasn’t just him doing his best, it was an act of him pushing his limits.

Tang-E replied in a weak voice, “No, Master dude.”

The Heart had already been called back. It showed how tired tang-E was.

“I’ll finish it soon.” Hyeonu’s eyes shone sharply. As promised, he was going to finish the battle as soon as possible.

‘The eggs are all gone. I can ignore the regular monsters...’

All that remained was the darkness bognet queen. It was clear that the darkness bognets wouldn’t be able to withstand the attacks of the heavily buffed Hyeonu, so he would regard them as not being present. Hyeonu ran toward the darkness bognet queen. Every time he touched the ground, Hyeonu’s speed accelerated exponentially. This was due to his stats increasing significantly using various item skills.

“Kieeeeeek!”

A group of darkness bognets blocked Hyeonu’s path. Hyeonu saw it and casually swung the Mysterious Sky Sword. Dark-red pure energies burst like crazy from the Mysterious Sky Sword.

One, two, three...

They popped out endlessly.

The black-red pure energies made their way to the back while erasing the darkness bognets.

“Kieeeek!” the darkness bognet queen cried out when she saw the black-red pure energy flying in with terrible momentum. It was a struggle to avoid death.