Ranker’s Return

[You have entered the Traces of the Empire Left in the Demon World.]

Hyeonu quickly removed the message that appeared before him and looked around.

‘First of all… is it a wilderness?’

Hyeonu had appeared in a wilderness. There was nothing here—not even one blade of grass or a tree. Only the dark blue sky and dark earth of the demon world welcomed Hyeonu.

‘Are these traces of a battle?’

The ground was dug up. They weren’t small traces but huge pits that had been dug in various places. These were signs of a fairly intense battle.

‘Doesn’t this seem like a war was fought here?’

In fact, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that these traces were all over the entire wilderness. It was as if he was looking at a ruin with dinosaur footprints.

‘It is a scenery worthy of the dungeon’s name.’

Hyeonu moved quickly—very quickly. He didn’t forget to look around though. This was his first time coming to a place he didn’t know, so he couldn’t stop being vigilant.

“Master dude, this is a very sinister place,” Tang-E muttered from Hyeonu’s back.

Tang-E didn’t like it here.

The energy was very unstable and ominous.

“Really? I don’t know... Still, I’ll be careful.” Hyeonu cocked his head. He didn’t feel the ominous feeling that Tang-E mentioned, but he could still understand why Tang-E felt that way to a certain extent.

‘Based on the traces... Even if a battle did happen, it would’ve occurred a few times.’

There was a sufficient possibility that the corpses piled up and gave off some energy, which Tang-E was able to sense.

‘Tang-E is an NPC after all..’

Tang-E might be tied to the pet system, but he was an NPC in the end. It wasn’t strange that he felt something different from Hyeonu.

Hyeonu ran around the wilderness close to the ruins. At first, he paid careful attention to his surroundings, but soon after, he just ran around. It was easy to see in the ruins. There were no trees or buildings obscuring its surrounding view.

Currently, Hyeonu was able to run 10 times faster in the air due to the effect of his new shoes, Shoes of Limited Freedom. Looking down from the top, Hyeonu could see what was in the pit of the ruins.

‘There is nothing. Why is it an instance dungeon?’

It was a question that couldn’t be erased from Hyeonu’s mind. He had run around for over an hour, but he couldn’t even sense the existence of a monster. Nor did he feel anything when he stretched out his magic power.

“Tang-E, do you feel anything? Or do you see anything?” Hyeonu asked Tang-E in a voice filled with vigor.

“I don’t see anything, Master dude. I am no different.” Tang-E sat on Hyeonu’s head and looked around. There was nothing on Tang-E’s radar. All he could see was the empty ground and sky. He couldn’t feel anything either. Then something entered his sight—a white-skinned object that was less than two meters tall. The true identity of the object was a human.

“Master dude, there is a human here.”

The moment Tang-E mentioned the presence of a human being, Hyeonu’s eyes lit up, and he searched around carefully. However, Hyeonu couldn’t see anything like that. He said, “There’s nothing...?”

Tang-E sighed. He went down to Hyeonu’s shoulders and turned the latter’s head with his paws.

“Over there, stupid Master dude. Are your eyes just for decoration? You can’t even see what is in front of you.”

It wasn’t until Tang-E’s adjustment that Hyeonu could finally see the human Tang-E talked about. The man, who was wearing faded armor, clung tightly to the edge of a pit and watched Hyeonu closely.

‘I have to confirm if he is a monster or an NPC.’ Hyeonu immediately kicked the air and ran through the air like a ghost. He used Mysterious Sky Steps, which contained a lot of magic power, and arrived before the armored man in the blink of an eye.

“Are you human?” Hyeonu questioned with his hands on the Mysterious Sky Sword. He had yet to draw it, but he was prepared to pull it out and swing it at any time. However, it was an act that had no meaning.

The man knelt silently before Hyeonu and said, “Guardian... I have waited a long time for you to come.”

Hyeonu looked between the kneeling man and Tang-E on his shoulder with a puzzled expression.

“What is going on, Master dude? Why is that human calling you ‘Guardian’?” Tang-E asked.

“That’s what I want to ask. Why is it like this?” The flustered expression on Hyeonu’s face didn’t go away.

The man spoke carefully, “You are the guardian we have been waiting for. The Guardian’s Breath that you have learned proves it.”

After hearing the man’s explanation, Hyeonu regained his composure. He remembered something he hadn’t thought of earlier because of the man’s sudden behavior.

‘I cleared Rondal and got the Guardian title.’

Hyeonu had learned Guardian’s Breath from the skill book he received from the emperor. This skill could only be learned by someone with the title of Imperial Guardian.

“It is true that I learned it and got the title of Guardian...” Hyeonu’s voice trailed off.

Things were flowing too well for him to relax his vigilance.

“Go with me to the gathering place of the descendants of the empire. I will give you a further explanation on the way there,” the man said calmly as if he understood what Hyeonu was feeling.

Unable to think of any other suitable method, Hyeonu accepted the man’s proposal: “I understand. Let’s go.” 

***

Hyeonu and the man walked in a certain direction. The man took the lead, and Hyeonu followed.

“My name is Kalui. I am temporarily leading the descendants of the Luo Empire who remain in the demon world.” The man, Kalui, introduced himself without looking back.

Hyeonu listened to Kalui’s introduction and then introduced himself as well: “I am Gang Hyeonu, a marquis of the Yusma Empire. By chance, I was able to clear everything from Laek to Senu and Rondal.”

He took off the gauntlets and revealed his bare hands.

“The name of this ring is ‘Red Guardian’. It is a ring that proves that I have completed everything up to Rondal,” Hyeonu stated.

Right after that, Kalui stopped walking and turned toward Hyeonu.

“Oh... The Guardian’s Ring that was only mentioned in the books... You are indeed the guardian we have been waiting for.” Kalui saw the ring on Hyeonu’s hand and knelt down again with a very excited expression.

After a while, Kalui got up and started to move again in order to bring Hyeonu to the village as soon as possible. It was just that now he ran by Hyeonu’s side, rather than in front, to make it easier for him to talk to Hyeonu.

“Rather than explaining, I will answer any questions that you have. You can ask me anything relevant to us,” Kalui said.

‘I can’t trust him fully yet. I’ll compare it to what I know.’

Hyeonu likely knew more about the Luos Empire than Kalui expected, so he wanted to compare what he knew to what Kalui explained in order to determine if Kalui was telling the truth.

‘I can ask about the things I was curious about.’

“You have been saying descendants since a while ago... How many people are there?” Hyeonu asked.

“There are around 1,500 people left now. There weren’t many of us in the beginning, so this is all that remains. However, there are descendants like us in the middle world and divine world. If they are all combined, there will be around 10,000,” Kalui answered. 

His words revealed something amazing—the descendants of the Luos Empire were scattered throughout each world.

‘What is the empire?’ Hyeonu wondered inwardly.

The Luos Empire was an ancient nation that had disappeared for a long time. Even so, it was surprising that it had continued to exist until now.

‘This is the test.’

“What is the Luos Empire exactly?”

Regardless of whether Kalui knew Hyeonu’s intentions, he explained kindly, “The Luos Empire was the first empire established by humans.”

“I know that much. It’s a continent where different species and monsters swarmed. Human beings were despised, but the first emperor, Akan, saved them.”

Kalui looked at Hyeonu and smiled. “Guardian, you know it well. Was it part of what is taught in the empire? You are correct. Akan was like the god of humans. He went against the gods of the different species and placed a human flag on the continent. The Luos Empire was established, and the humans developed in a dazzling manner. To be exact, it wasn’t humans per se. Everything flowed from the imperial family of the Luos Empire. Combat, magic, elementals, alchemy, metallurgy, and everything else was distributed from the imperial family to the outside.”

So far, it was like what Hyeonu already knew. Of course, he didn’t know that the great emperor Akan had fought against the gods of the different species.

‘That’s it... Akan overcame the gods of the different species to establish an empire.’

“The more academies I found, the more I felt it. The Luos Empire was too strong. Dragons, the demon world, and the divine world—it was never pushed by them. So why did it perish?” Hyeonu asked about what he had heard from Hugo on Bung Bung Island in the past.

Why was the Luos Empire, the continent’s strongest empire, destroyed? The answer was internal strife.

‘Will he explain it accurately?’ Hyeonu smiled meaningfully.

Kalui answered, “The scariest enemy isn’t an external enemy but an internal enemy. The reason why the empire perished is internal strife. The nobles who formed different factions ruined the empire.”

“Is one faction the demon world?” Hyeonu questioned.

Upon hearing that, Kalui stopped walking and looked at Hyeonu. He looked like he was wondering how Hyeonu knew.

“That’s right. The demon world is one of those forces. However, it is difficult to overturn the Luos Empire with just the demon kings of the demon world. Therefore, the demon kings used the divine world and dragons. The demon kings and the gods of the different species oppressed the Luos Empire while the dragons sat by and watched because it would help maintain the order of the middle world,” Kalui explained with an impassioned voice.

It was as if he had been directly involved.

‘Can I believe him?’ Hyeonu wondered inwardly.

“Then I will ask you one last question.” He prepared a final question for Kalui.

It would be the very last one of the test. If the reaction that Hyeonu desired were to emerge, he would believe Kalui.

“Yes, you can ask me anything. Guardian.” Kalui nodded.

Hyeonu saw this and immediately asked the question, “Is Larenix—the Luos Empire’s last pure blooded emperor, who left the descendants of the empire—here?”

Kalui’s eyes widened and shook wildly like he didn’t know what to do.

Hyeonu drove the wedge into Kalui: “Then I’ll ask you this. Do you know this bracelet?”

He pulled forward Tang-E, who was hanging on his back, and pointed to the white bracelet on Tang-E’s paw.

“!!!” It wasn’t just Kalui’s eyes but his entire body that started trembling.