Ranker's Return

Chapter 926

Hyeonu’s gaze wasn’t on Tang-E walking forward but somewhere in the air. He was reading the contents of the new quest.

[Dispose of Renfelvik]

[The vampire Renfelvik was lagging behind in talent when he became the duke of true blood by chance. He is a talent that doesn’t fit the survival of the fittest that Callioraks wanted. Kill Renfelvik before he grows further.

Rating: S+

Conditions: The death of the duke of true blood, Renfelvik 0/1

Rewards: Experience, Callioraks’ gift.]

‘A gift? Am I going to get it easily without any effort?’

It was the reward that caught Hyeonu’s attention—Callioraks’ gift.

‘What will he give me?’

Thoughts of all types of items passed through Hyeonu’s mind. Naturally, the corners of his mouth started to curve up.

“Do you think it is possible?” Callioraks spoke to Hyeonu just then.

“If Tang-E does well, won’t he win? I naturally hope that Tang-E will win,” Hyeonu expressed exactly what he thought. There wasn’t the slightest bit of embellishments.

“Is that so? His skills aren’t advanced, right?” Callioraks asked while keeping his eyes fixed on Tang-E’s back.

“Once again, I think he will win.” Hyeonu’s voice had a different conviction from before.

Callioraks turned to look at Hyeonu after hearing this. It was a look asking for Hyeonu to explain the reason behind his conviction.

“There are some aspects to Tang-E that you don’t know about. Tang-E doesn’t just have the secret arts and magic.”

In Hyeonu’s opinion, Tang-E’s biggest advantage lay in his diversity. There was nothing he couldn’t do. Magic, the secret arts, and melee combat skills. His combat ability, which was based on immense physical abilities and magic power, was already at a fairly good level. It wasn’t quite satisfactory in Hyeonu’s eyes, but objectively, Tang-E’s skills weren’t lacking at all.

“Are you saying he wouldn’t be able to do it with just the secret arts and magic?”

“Who knows... Doesn’t that all depend on Tang-E? If he uses all his abilities, there is no way he wouldn’t be able to win.”

Hyeonu was confident he would win if he fought Renfelvik with Tang-E’s stats and skills. No, it wasn’t just about winning.

Overwhelm or crush him—he would be able to create a scene where these words fit. It was possible with what Tang-E had.

‘Now it makes more sense to say the bear has a pearl necklace around his neck...’

However, things would be different after a month or two. Tang-E’s continued education would allow him to fully utilize his abilities.

“He won’t be pushed in strength... Don’t worry too much, Callioraks. He isn’t just a kid.” Hyeonu frowned as he looked at the restless Callioraks. Callioraks was looking at Tang-E as if the latter were a child standing alone on the shore.

“If it doesn’t work out, I’ll come out on my own. It is just as I said to Tang-E earlier,” Hyeonu hurriedly persuaded Callioraks. Otherwise, it seemed like Callioraks would go out on his own right away.

Callioraks didn’t respond to Hyeonu’s words. It was because the battle between Tang-E and Renfelvik was already taking place.

***

The duke of true blood, Renfelvik, frowned when he saw the little bear that appeared in front of him.

“Was there such a demonic creature in the demon world?”

Although it was the first time he had ever seen such a species, he wasn’t careless. After all, it wasn’t strange if there was someone he didn’t know in the demon world.

“Are you Renfelvik?” the little bear suddenly spoke informally.

“My name is Renfelvik. Who are you?” Renfelvik became annoyed. It had only been a short time since he acquired the title of duke of true blood, so it was clear that his name wasn’t well known. Apart from that, he wasn’t someone to be ignored like this.

A thick bloody mist appeared around Renfelvik. Simultaneously, part of the mist fell off and took the form of an arrow.

“If you are Renfelvik, you must die.” The little bear raised his paws and pointed to Renfelvik. A purple lightning bolt emerged from the little bear’s paw, reaching Renfelvik in a matter of seconds.

‘Lightning bolt?’ Renfelvik’s eyes widened at the purple sparks that filled his eyes. Then he quickly raised his arm upwards. A bloody mist followed Renfelvik’s arm and blocked the lightning. A strong explosion echoed through the forest.

“He isn’t as easy as he appears.”

It was true that Renfelvik was inwardly vigilant at the appearance of the little bear. No matter how dangerous the demon world was, he had wondered how strong the opponent would be when his magic power couldn’t even be felt properly.

‘It would’ve been dangerous if I were a bit late.’

This guy’s lightning bolt was not weak. He had seen and felt it in person. Ferociousness was hidden behind the little bear’s cute appearance.

‘I’ll have to kill him first before thinking about it.’

It was a luxury to think otherwise. The immediate urgency was to kill the bear in front of him. The bloody mist that flowed from Renfelvik’s body grew thicker. Simultaneously, a blood giant rose from the mist.

The eyes of the little bear, Tang-E, widened when he saw the giant. It was a surprised expression. Then these feelings quickly faded. Tang-E had seen too many things with Hyeonu so far to be surprised by this.

‘I have to deal with the giant first.’

He even thought about how to deal with his opponent.

Just then, Tang-E’s appearance changed. He quickly became huge. His eye level became the same as that of the blood giant.

Tang-E lightly kicked off from the ground, but the result was not light. His heavy body reached the blood giant in an instant, and he slapped the head of the blood giant with his golden-colored paw. The body of the blood giant tilted. Tang-E hit the body of the swaying blood giant again and again. It was hard to believe that this speed came from such a huge body.

Renfelvik watched him but didn’t show any change in expression. The blood giant earned him a few seconds. It was adequate for the blood giant to merely play a sufficient role.

A spear was emitted from the blood mist. It was a huge spear made by injecting a lot of magic power. The bloody giant spear flew toward Tang-E. A red haze appeared in the places where the spear passed.

Tang-E turned his head the moment the bloody giant spear arrived near him. Then he swung his paw. Five stems of golden pure energy flew toward the spear. The golden pure energy and the bloody spear collided. The spear pierced the pure energy, but it wasn’t in the same condition as it was originally. What used to be a dark blood-red color had become very pale, and it was reduced in size.

The spear lost its goal and passed through the air. It was because Tang-E’s body had become smaller. Now he was around the height of a typical adult man. Tang-E had taken on his human form and was now holding a longsword of a normal length.

The longsword had a very strange appearance. It shone brilliantly as if it had been carved from a jewel.

‘Where did this longsword come from?’ Hyeonu saw Tang-E’s longsword and cocked his head. It was because the longsword he was seeing for the first time looked very familiar.

“It is the same color as the wish bead...” Hyeonu immediately realized why the longsword was so familiar. Tang-E’s wish bead was the same color as the longsword.

‘Where did he learn this?’

Making weapons out of magic power… To be honest, it wasn’t very difficult to do. There was just a lack of power compared to the effort he had to put in, so it was a technique that Hyeonu didn’t use very often. In addition, if one’s concentration was released for even a moment, the magic power would dissipate and the sword would disappear.

“He is using it well. It’s rewarding to teach him,” Callioraks muttered at the sight of Tang-E. He had a very pleased expression.

Hyeonu turned his head and asked Callioraks, “Callioraks, were you the one who taught him that?”

“Yes, I taught that to him. He wanted to learn it, so I taught him the trick.” Callioraks nodded in confirmation.

‘There must be other secrets.’

Hyeonu accepted that Callioraks had taught it. He acknowledged it because it was Callioraks.

“He is going to win based on what I see,” Callioraks said with a smile. It was because Tang-E was fighting better than expected. It couldn’t be said that he was using everything he had, but he wasn’t fighting like an idiot.

“Then take it easy and watch. Your hands are sweating.”

Hyeonu knew that Callioraks was watching Tang-E without blinking.

“I am already doing that.”

Only Callioraks couldn’t recognize it.

***

‘This appearance is the most comfortable.’

There was only one reason why Tang-E changed into a human form. It was because he realized that the blood giant was the same as a folding screen. Meanwhile, Renfelvik was around the size of a normal human. There was no need to fight in his big size.

‘In any case, he will die if his head is cut off or his heart explodes.’

These were the words that his master, Hyeonu, had always emphasized. The opponent might recover, but Hyeonu added that such a fatal wound was already a huge loss.

‘I’ll use what I learned from Master dude.’

Tang-E had great confidence in a melee battle. He was convinced that Hyeonu’s fighting style could never be stopped. Tang-E swung his longsword at Renfelvik, who was standing at a distance beyond what the longsword could reach. The longsword cut through the air.

Renfelvik saw this and naturally relaxed. He was laughing at Tang-E’s ridiculous behavior.

‘The sword is bigger...?’

Then that expression immediately disappeared. It was because he realized that the sword emitting a brilliant color was growing bigger and bigger.

‘It got longer!’

The fact that the sword looked larger when the opponent hadn’t moved meant that the sword was coming closer to Renfelvik himself. It was implying that the sword was lengthened. The mist that spread out around Renfelvik quickly gathered to form a shield. The bloody mist succeeded in blocking Tang-E’s lengthened sword.

However, Renfelvik’s expression wasn’t relaxed. He could feel his opponent approaching quickly.

‘The giant...’

Renfelvik sent the blood giant toward the approaching opponent. He intended to buy time as before.

“It won’t work this time!”

However, Tang-E had already read Renfelvik’s intentions. He slipped between the giant’s feet and clung to Renfelvik. Tang-E’s longsword swung again, followed by Renfelvik’s bloody mist moving again too. Thorns soared and blocked Tang-E’s sword. Nevertheless, Tang-E swung his longsword and cut the bloody thorns one by one.

Then he moved forward one step at a time. The distance between Renfelvik and Tang-E was reduced slightly. Now it was a distance where Tang-E’s sword didn’t have to lengthen to attack. Renfelvik bit his lip and raised his magic power again. He was trying to use the technique he gained from the position of the duke of true blood.

“Kuhuhuhung!” a beast-like cry erupted from Tang-E’s mouth just then. It was Roar, which had the effect of breaking the opponent’s magic casting. When Renfelvik heard Tang-E’s Roar, his body stopped moving immediately.

Tang-E didn’t miss this moment. Renfelvik’s head soon flew high into the air.