Ranker’s Return

Lebron couldn’t take his eyes off the magic power stone that was emitting a dark light. He was enchanted by the magic power stone’s inherent intense energy.

“Place your hand on the magic power stone and think that you want to absorb it. Then it will be absorbed,” Hyeonu explained what he had previously experienced. Hyeonu had absorbed the magic power according to the guidance of the system, so he could only teach Lebron these general words. Without responding, Lebron just reached out his hand toward the magic power stone.

Suddenly, the magic power stone overflowed with great energy.

‘What is going on?’ Hyeonu was frightened by the sight in front of him. There was a large amount of energy, which was not even within a comparable range to what he saw when he used magic power absorption. Lebron’s body sucked in the energy unstoppably, and this went on for a long time.

‘Is it over now?’ Hyeonu focused on the magic power that started to die down. ‘How much has been absorbed?’

The magic power stone had lost its earlier light. If the magic power stone was originally a fluorescent lamp, now it was like a fluorescent lamp that had been used for months. There wasn’t much change, but one could see there was a significant difference in detail upon having a closer look.

“Hmm...” Lebron retrieved his outstretched arm. Then he checked his body for changes. “My magic power has increased quite a bit. It is to a satisfactory level.”

Lebron absorbed approximately 20% of his original magic power through the magic power stone. This 20% was very important to Lebron as it allowed him to now have the ability to use difficult skills.

“Is there something like this in every city?” LeBron felt greedy.

His only weakness was that he had less magic power. Of course, what he had looked like a lot in the eyes of others, but for Lebron, it wasn’t enough. It was inferior compared to John Blake—his teacher—and the emperor. He found a way to quickly fill up that weakness, so he had to be excited.

“The magic power stones in the demon world can use Magic Power Absorption once every six months. There are a total of 72 magic power stones,” Hyeonu said.

His words caused Lebron’s expression to brighten.

72—objectively, it wasn’t a large number. Nonetheless, judging by what he’d experienced today, it was likely a big enough number. It would still be tremendous progress even if there were only a few of them.

“However, every city has a master. Now, as for where you can use Magic Power Absorption is... I think there are two places.” Hyeonu knew the locations of two magic power stones where Lebron could use Magic Power Absorption. “Two of them are related to John Blake. There are magic power stones in the city John Blake originally ruled and the city where he is currently staying. These two are very likely to have accumulated magic power.”

John Blake’s two cities were highly likely to have the magic power stones Lebron could absorb from. It was okay even if Magic Power Absorption couldn’t be used right now. No matter how long it would take, it would still be shorter than six months.

“It’s hard right now. I can't leave this place,” Lebron expressed his regret.

He didn’t know when the demon king and demons would come to Etono. Regardless of how fast he was, he wouldn’t be able to come back in a few minutes or hours like he was walking around the neighborhood. So, Lebron had to endure it even though he wanted to get more magic power. For now, it was a priority to protect Etono and win the war.

“No. Master, you must go right now,” Hyeonu said firmly.

Now was the time when Lebron had to become stronger. It was useless for him to be strong after the demon world war was over. ‘Of course, that’s unless we also go to war with the divine world.’

Hyeonu took out two small coins from his inventory and handed them to Lebron. “This is a return stone. I know you’ve used it before, but if you call out ‘Return’, you will be able to move to the corresponding city.”

Hyeonu had return stones for both cities—Quere, the city that John Blake ruled before he became a demon king, and Blanc, the city ruled by Demon King Rubolle and where John Blake was now the master.

“Um...” Lebron was worried for a moment, but he soon reached out to Hyeonu’s palm anyway.

He held the two return stones in his hand and looked at them several times before saying, “There is just a small problem. I have to run to come back here.”

Going took an instant, but it would take a fairly long time to return. The method of using the return stone meant there was no return ticket.

‘Is there an Etono Return Stone?’

Hyeonu didn’t have the Etono Return Stone. He wandered around Etono using the inherent authority of the lord. Thus, he never felt the need for a return stone. Now it was necessary to think about the existence of the return stone.

“It’s fine. That is enough.”

It was enough for Lebron to have the return stones of Quere and Blanc. He could save half the time with these, so this alone was a great advantage.

“I think Master should take all the magic power stones the moment the war is over.” Hyeonu drew a bigger picture. He was going to keep raising Lebron up.

‘He is on the same side as me...’

Lebron was Hyeonu’s greatest shield and spear. The harder the shield and the sharper the spear, the better it was for Hyeonu.

‘He is a good hunter who will beat the demon king.’

Currently, it was more advantageous for Hyeonu to give Lebron the chance to absorb the magic power of the magic power stone so that he could snatch some of the rewards when Lebron killed a demon king,

“Thank you for saying so, Disciple.” Lebron patted Hyeonu’s shoulder a few times before quickly disappearing.

He left to absorb the magic power.

***

It was the emperor who first noticed Lebron’s absence. The moment the emperor could no longer sense Lebron’s energy in Etono, he came straight to Hyeonu. He even grasped the Magic Power Absorption that happened before.

“Where did Lebron go? The teacher and student are the same. The empire can’t work properly if the duke and marquis are like this.” The emperor showed his anger the moment he met with Hyeonu.

“Duke Lebron left for a while to become stronger, Your Majesty,” Hyeonu said calmly to resolve the emperor’s misunderstanding.

‘He should’ve spoken to the emperor before leaving...’ Hyeonu resented Lebron for leaving without considering the consequences.

What he didn’t know was that Lebron had left deliberately without telling the emperor.

“To become stronger? It is crazy to do that in the demon world. Doesn’t he know what kind of time it is right now? Yet he’s wandering around the continent to fight?” The emperor understood Hyeonu’s words in a different way.

To be exact, what the emperor thought of was within common sense. Who would think that Lebron had left to absorb magic power from the magic power stones? It was normal to think of fighting someone to improve strength.

“No, it isn’t like that, Your Majesty. Duke Lebron left for a while to increase his magic power,” Hyeonu clarified.

“Magic power?”

“Yes, there are ways to increase magic power in a short time in the demon world. There is a magic power stone in each city of the demon world. He can absorb some of the magic power accumulated in the magic power stone in a certain time cycle.”

“Hoh?” The expression in the emperor’s eyes changed. His feelings fluctuated easily like a reed on a windy autumn day. The moment Hyeonu pulled out an interesting story, the emperor smiled and urged Hyeonu to talk.

“Duke Lebron has already absorbed the magic power from the magic power stone in this city. He left to become as strong as possible before the demon world invasion war begins,” Hyeonu said. He tried not to lose the emperor’s interest by explaining about the magic power stone and Magic Power Absorption.

“Really? Magic power...” The emperor touched his chin. For Lebron, magic power was his one weakness. He was definitely more talented than the emperor when it came to magic power management and swordsmanship.

‘The reason I could become stronger than Lebron... was due to the empire’s influence,’ the emperor thought.

The emperor’s talent was great; it was a rare talent in imperial history. Yet Lebron was a bit better than him. Therefore, the emperor had never defeated Lebron even once when they trained as children under John Blake. This relationship changed five years after the emperor rose to the throne. Among the imperial treasures that only the emperor could use, there were many that had the ability to quickly collect magic power. The emperor used them to accumulate more magic power than Lebron possessed, and he learned skills that were only passed on to the imperial family. It was only then that he gained an advantage against Lebron.

‘How interesting.’ The emperor thought it wouldn’t be boring now even after they returned to the middle world.

Just then, the emperor’s expression changed slightly. “By the way... I think there is a small problem, Marquis Gang Hyeonu.”

Unlike his negative words, the smile on the emperor’s face deepened.

‘What is the problem?’ Hyeonu naturally wasn’t able to understand the true meaning behind the emperor’s words. There was a problem, yet the emperor was smiling. He wouldn’t be doing this unless he was making fun of someone.

“A problem? What are you talking about, Your Majesty?” Hyeonu eventually questioned it. He needed to know the problem so he could deal with it.

“The demon kings seem to have arrived... They timed it just right.” The emperor’s words were shocking. His actions were also surprising. Why was he smiling when the demon kings had just appeared?

“Isn’t this a big problem, Your Majesty? For them to be coming here…” Hyeonu said.

“It is good that they came here on their own. It saves me a lot of trouble.” The emperor moved in a relaxed manner with his hands behind his back. Meanwhile, Hyeonu followed the emperor with small steps.

***

“It’s true. The human was right. The two demons definitely died to the emperor who is inside Etono,” Damanos muttered as he stared at the inside of Etono.

Earl Delrun heard his words and spoke carefully, “That human’s hatred and desire for vengeance aren’t ordinary. I don’t think it is likely that human lied, Lord Damanos.”

Damanos nodded. ‘If it is that magic power, an earl and viscount wouldn’t be able to withstand it.’

The energy felt different. It was a magic power equivalent to that of a demon king.

“Isn’t it good that we came together?” Damanos looked at the man standing on the other side of Earl Delrun.

The man nodded at Damanos’ words. He also sensed a great magic power inside Etono. Then he said, “It is likely to be too much if either of us fight him alone. Of course, that doesn’t mean I can’t win, but...” 

The man talking with Damanos was Galiya—one of the two hardliner demon kings. Only he was capable of speaking to Damanos in this way. Galiya concluded, “It is a bit unfortunate I can’t fight him alone, but... to be defeated is a sin.”

Both Damanos and Galiya felt that it would be hard to guarantee victory if they fought against the emperor alone. They had to minimize losses in order to prevent themselves from being restrained by other demon kings. Although they might not like it, they had to attack simultaneously.

Right then, the emperor appeared on the walls. He unleashed a vitriolic remark toward Damanos and Galiya, “Demon kings... Are you insects that can’t do anything alone?”