Ranker Who Lives Twice

"H-How did you get…? Aaack!"

"I'll tell you the truth. So please spare my life!"

"D-Death King! How are you here? I didn't hear anything about… kegh!"

Everyone Yeon-woo met as he opened space was led into death.

[Death has commenced!]

[Death has commenced!]

…

[The concept of 'Death' spreads throughout the entire universe!]

A few of them were transcendents, but no matter how strong they were, it was impossible for them to resist Yeon-woo, who was on the emperor-level. Yeon-woo tore their souls and absorbed information from them to move to the next location.

Yeon-woo eliminated all the beings who got in his way. The beings that kneeled and tried to explain the situation were also faced with death. Whether it was intentional or not, Yeon-woo got rid of all the beings that stood against him. He didn't leave any alive. He had a firm resolve to completely pull out the roots. If necessary, he could blow away an entire solar system. He was going to get rid of this organization completely.

『I can't even put a number of the kill count. Four or five civilizations must've died by now, huh? Haha. 』

Kronos didn't try to stop Yeon-woo. Most people would've attempted to persuade Yeon-woo to stop this annihilation, but Kronos was also someone who had been a king of gods. Even if he had spent some time living as a mortal, his perspective was different from ordinary mortals.

Kronos couldn't even begin to understand what Yeon-woo's perspective was, since Yeon-woo had climbed to a position that was beyond higher than his. He figured Yeon-woo would be fine to take care of the solution alone.

Even with that aside, Kronos thought it was necessary to straighten things out with this opportunity. With the balance of the Tower now gone, it was obvious the lost societies would try to fight each other and become more powerful.

However, Kronos considered this to be too early.『No one knows when and how the Night will come again. It'll be easier to fight against them after all internal order is established. Any variables need to be within control. And putting strength forward is the best way to do that.』So, his conclusion was simple.

『In the Tower, I wondered why Allforone went to such lengths… But now I can somewhat understand.』Kronos subconsciously smiled bitterly at the fact that he was now in the same position as the Allforone he despised so much—but of course, he was also thinking of saving Pepe/Freesia, who was like family to him.

[The entire universe quakes from 'Death!']

[Warning. The end of things could be approaching.]

[Warning. The end of things could be approaching.]

As he kept on digging into the locations, Yeon-woo arrived on a planet that was at the edge of the universe.

Whoosh!

『Hm? There was a place like this?』Kronos muttered to himself at the chilling feeling. They were on a planet that was hard to find if one wasn't paying close attention, but the scent coming from the planet was strange. It wasn't ominous—just different.

The planet might seem like a part of this universe, but it was different. It was like some other fabric had been used to cover up the leather of already complete clothing. This was something that Kronos had never seen before. It was something that was neither "inside" nor "outside"… An entirely different third party had forcefully been entered.

Kronos thought it wasn't strange that Yeon-woo discovered this planet only now. However, he wasn't able to continue with his thoughts much longer. In the middle of a red sea reminiscent of blood, he saw an island with a large fortress.

"Found it." With that, Yeon-woo struck Scythe down.

* * *

"…"

"How long will you stay silent?"

"…"

"Are you going to endure like this forever? It's already been ten years since you've been trapped here. I think enough time has passed for you to say that you were loyal to her…"

"…"

They were in a place surrounded by black bars. It looked like a plain prison for criminals at a glance, but it was large enough to hold tens of people and was filled with a bed, shelf, and other supplies for living.

However, Freesia paid no mind to any of them and stayed still with her eyes shut. On her arms and legs were black chains that looked like bracelets or anklets, restraints made of Divine Iron to seal all her holy power.

"Or do you think the Death King will save you someday?" A man outside the bars sighed from his seat. He had stepped up on his own will to guard Freesia's prison every day for the last ten years.

"But he's faded away to darkness. You know, don't you? Of how cruel the 'dream' is. Once you're in it, it's possible to come out. He must be using quite a bit of his mentality and wasting laws of casualty to protect this universe and stop the end of things."

Although the man was keeping Freesia behind bars, he didn't do anything to harm her, like torturing her or mistreating her. Rather, he spent hours every day trying to persuade Freesia. It was to make her understand his wish—the mission of the organization he was in. In other words, he was trying to pull her to their side. The problem was Freesia had never been shaken.

"The genesis and end of things represented by the Heavenly Demon and the Black King… They've been repeated innumerous times, and no one knows how much more it will repeat. Shouldn't something be done to escape this horrendous cycle? For that, we need the 'seed.'"

"…"ραпdα `nᴏνɐ| сom

"The seed that can birth an entirely new world of possibilities without the Heavenly Demon and the Black King." The man's eyes darkened as he added, "And for that, we need Rhea's safe, which only you know the location of. Don't you also want this damned 'cycle' to end?"

At that moment, Freesia slowly opened her eyes. Her eyes were empty of emotion and it was hard to read her expression due to her mask, but the man was satisfied. The fact that she was showing a reaction meant there was some change to her thoughts.

"Did you think we wouldn't know you created By the Table to stockpile for the coming end of things? The ark is evidence of that."

Rhea's ark that was meant to save pairs of animals for future generations from the Great Flood was also like that. It was created to stockpile for the Great Flood and escape into the new world. Only a small part of the ark's potential had been shown when the Tower came crumbling down. And that ark was only one of Rhea's legacy, no, Quirinale's legacy.

This was what the man wanted to point out. He was saying By the Table was created to protect Quirinale's legacy and to carry their mission out. He was saying her mission and their mission were one and the same.

Then, Freesia slowly spoke up. Her voice was cracked because she hadn't spoken in a while. "You're someone who's crossed over from another 'cycle.'"

The man smiled bittersweetly. "I didn't cross over. I was abandoned. I don't have any home to return to, and I can't even dream of reincarnation if I die here. I'm a wanderer if you will." His eyes were on Freesia, but Freesia felt like he was seeing something else. He continued, "But I… No, 'we,' want to make a world where no such victims are created. You don't want to come with us?"

Freesia was silent again. As if waiting for her, the man quietly just watched her. Then, Freesia commented, "That was a good explanation. I understand your mission is the same as mine. It's true I was shaken because you were more honest than usual."

"Then…!"

"But you made a mistake."

The man's smile faded as he stiffened. "What?"

"These changes must mean you've become more urgent, am I wrong?"

"…!" The man jumped up from his seat when suddenly, an explosion and gusts of wind struck the fortress.

[The Black King's ego descends!]

Crash! Crack! The barriers that had protected the fortress all this time were broken like glass. When the fortress was completely open, black lightning shot down and blew everything away.

The man tried to summon his holy power and move toward Freesia, but Sword Thunder landed in front of him before he could do so. Crash! The man was blown away by the wind. He was flung out the collapsing fortress and slid atop the red sea for quite a distance.

Yeon-woo stood where he had just been, with his Fiery Golden Eyes open.

"Oh dear…!" The man wrinkled his face. He had tried to convince Freesia for the last time upon receiving news that Yeon-woo was headed this way, but Yeon-woo was faster than he thought.

Crash.

"Lord…Yeon-woo." Freesia looked up at Yeon-woo with a trembling gaze.

"Are you alright, Freesia?"

『Pepe. How come you're only greeting him when I'm here too?』Kronos, having changed into a human, grumbled.

pαndα`noνɐ1--сoМ Freesia looked down. "I apologize. And thank you."

"I should be thanking you. I heard you helped to save my people. This is late, but thank you." Yeon-woo turned to the man who was looking sadly in their direction while shaking his head.

『But that guy.』

It was a face they had never seen before. His aura was different from the gods and demons that Yeon-woo knew.

『Where's he from? I've never seen anyone with those qualities.』Kronos glared at the man like Yeon-woo, then tilted his head. He had no idea what the man's identity was. He wondered if the man was a being who roamed around without a society…but most beings like that had great strength like Vimalacitra and Cernunnos, so there was no way he wouldn't know him.

The man seemed to be quite strong too. He deflected the Sword Thunder Yeon-woo activated with all his might and only had a slight scratch. He didn't seem to be hurt elsewhere. He had most likely reached the emperor-level, meaning his legends must be great. But why didn't Kronos know him?

'Just like this space, that man feels out of place.'

The man's holy power, qualities, and how they were activated seemed different. He wasn't created from laws that Kronos knew. It felt like the man was secluded from the rest of this world.

"I think I know."

Kronos turned to Yeon-woo.『Mm? You do?』Although Yeon-woo had reached great levels, his life as a transcendent wasn't that long, so there was much he didn't know about gods and demons. So Kronos questioned Yeon-woo doubtfully.

But Yeon-woo answered simply, "He's Thor."

『What do you mean? Thor is dead. You tore his soul apart and gave it to your Apostles.』Kronos knew that Thor had been destroyed when Asgard joined sides with the Titans in the past. Moreover, the Thor Kronos knew wasn't that good-looking, and Thor's temperament was like fire.

"He's a different Thor from that Thor."

『But what do you mean…!』Kronos trailed off and became shocked at the idea that occurred to him.『Are you saying he's crossed over from another 'dream?'』

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