Ranker's Return

Supplementary Story 33

At the northernmost point of the continent, a visitor came to the iceberg where the snowstorm was blowing hard.

“Is this the place?” John Blake murmured as he looked up at the glamorous building that didn’t match the iceberg.

“Open the gate,” John Blake said toward the wall where no one could be seen. Surprisingly, a skeleton wearing a white helmet appeared on the walls. The skeleton stared silently at John Blake for a few seconds before quickly flying down from the wall.

Thump!

The skeleton failed to land properly. It landed on both feet, but its leg bone snapped. The fallen leg bone rolled over and hit John Blake’s foot.

“Be careful.” John Blake frowned and waved his hand in the air. The white bone that had fallen to the ground floated up and flew to the fallen skeleton. The skeleton with the white helmet grabbed the floating bone that was now in front of it and put it back where it was supposed to be. Then it got up and bowed to John Blake.

“Hello, please guide me to Edward,” John Blake said as he approached the skeleton.

The skeleton nodded a few times before gesturing toward the tightly closed gate. The gate, which seemed unlikely to open, opened to the sides. Then the skeleton ran through the path first.

Behind it, John Blake slowly followed with his hands behind his back.

***

‘Am I still half asleep?’ Edward blinked again and again. Standing in front of him was a man he thought he would never see again.

“Are you pretending not to know your uncle after seeing his face?” John Blake started the conversation in place of Edward, whose mouth was shut.

“Uncle... My uncle died a long time ago,” Edward replied with a cold expression. He no longer seemed willing to continue the conversation.

“You—?” John Blake frowned; he didn’t like Edward’s attitude. “I need to fix that habit of yours first.”

His hands were now dyed purple as he released a heavy force that couldn’t be emitted.

“It is all my fault,” he said. Then John Blake’s figure disappeared momentarily. He continued, “If I had taught you properly... you wouldn’t have come to a place like this, and you wouldn’t have said anything like that...”

The disappeared John Blake popped up right in front of Edward. At the same time, he swung his right hand lightly. Edward hastily left his position as soon as he felt traces of John Blake’s pure energy. Upon the light gesture that John Blake made, the throne where Edward had just been sitting exploded.

“What are you doing?!” Edward shouted when he saw the throne had disappeared without a trace. However, it was already too late. As opposed to a little while ago, it was now John Blake who didn’t want to talk to Edward.

“I was too strict with Alexander and Lebron. I should’ve paid more attention to you, a guy who hadn’t grown thick hair... But I thought, ‘What about being a warmhearted guy?’”

Edward had only just become of age when the former emperor became bedridden. Therefore, John Blake decided not to be a teacher but an uncle to be a substitute for Edward’s father.

“However, that was a mistake. You needed a cold teacher, not a friendly uncle.” John Blake waved his hand again and dozens of purple pure energies appeared in the air.

“So I will teach you now.” John Blake pointed at Edward. As if they had been waiting for it, the purple pure energies now aimed at Edward and shot at him.

‘What is this...?’ Edward had a terrified expression. This was beyond the level of a prank. It wasn’t a joke.

‘Let’s block it first.’

The conversation could take place after this. He could die if he didn’t stop it.

“Hup!”

Edward stretched out both hands toward the flying pure energies, and a black shield appeared in front of him. It was a shield large enough to cover his entire body. Then the purple pure energies violently pounded against the shield, which became a bit blurred every time the pure energy touched it.

‘It is a really awfully powerful level of strength.’ Edward frowned and continued to pour magic power into his shield. John Blake’s attack was as heavy as its momentum. The shield made from the secret arts seemed like it would quickly break if Edward didn’t pour magic power into it.

‘Was everything blocked?’

Edward recovered the magic power he used for the shield once there were no more collisions.

“......!!”

Like a ghost, John Blake suddenly approached the spot where the shield disappeared.

“Who taught you how to fight like this? Are your senses just a decoration? Don’t you know if you can’t check it with your eyes?” John Blake poured out endless criticisms.

They were as heavy as the pure energies he poured out. John Blake’s hand reached out toward Edward.

‘I can’t move...’ Edward was unable to move. It was as if he was tied by something. His eyes grew wide. All he could do was stare at John Blake’s approaching hand.

“You need to learn from scratch again.” John Blake grabbed Edward and dragged him somewhere.

***

“Why are you doing this?” Edward asked with an expression of great injustice.

“Didn’t I say it? I am going to redo everything.”

“Why now? You didn’t do this before!” Edward shouted.

“Before? You are right.” John Blake nodded.

Seeing John Blake’s behavior made Edward suspicious. ‘He isn’t the type of person to agree like this…’

Edward’s guess was right.

John Blake upset Edward with his subsequent words: “I should’ve come out when that bastard Pehello approached you. If so... everything wouldn’t have gone the way they wanted.”

“Stop! Stop it!!!” Edward cried out while shaking his head. Marquis Pehello had once claimed to be Edward’s godfather, and Edward had believed in him and followed him.

“Why? Are you embarrassed? Are you angry that you were deceived?” John Blake continued to turn Edward’s stomach inside out.

“Stop it. I know everything now.” Edward waved his hand. This was too embarrassing.

‘Why didn’t I know it back then?’

Marquis Pehelmo was the core of the nobles who corroded the empire. However, Edward hadn’t known this.

‘At that time, I thought Alexander was trying to strike at me.’

He thought that the reason for killing Marquis Pehello was part of an operation to wipe out his supporters. Therefore, he didn’t hesitate to rebel against Alexander when Marquis Pehello died.

“Due to him, you changed from a prince to a person expelled from the government... You deserve to feel ashamed.” John Blake clicked his tongue. The more he did so, the redder Edward’s face turned.

“Even so, I feel fortunate that you are playing the role of a king on the outskirts.”

“Are you teasing me?”

“I’m serious. In a way, the empire’s territory has increased. Rather, I want to compliment you.”

Edward frowned. “What empire’s territory? I rule this land.”

He didn’t know about anywhere else, but the northern part of the continent belonged to Edward. It had to be so.

“Who said anything? It is your land, your land.” John Blake smiled and shook his head several times.

“However, keep in mind that the blood flowing through your body belongs to the imperial family. You are the grand duke of the frontier. Other people don’t know this, but you have to know it,” he said.

John Blake’s expression changed rapidly. The lightness that had just been seen had now disappeared and strictness appeared in its place. He continued, “The moment you forget it and harm the empire... You will be troubling many people. Of course, you are the one who will be the most troubled.”

Edward closed his eyes. ‘Do you mean for me to live like a mouse forever...?’

This was what John Blake’s words sounded like to Edward.

“I was going to do so even if you didn’t say this.”

Even so, Edward didn’t protest. From the beginning, he hadn’t intended to cause trouble for the empire. It was as long as the two monsters, Alexander and Lebron, were alive.

“It is a good decision.” John Blake approached Edward and tapped him on the shoulder. “Then why don’t you give a bit of help to the empire now?”

“Do you mean... help?”

“Yes.”

“What type of help...?” Edward asked back with an expression of genuine ignorance.

“Start the war again. It is just like before,” John Blake spoke casually like it wasn’t a big deal.

“The war...?”

These words didn’t come lightly to Edward.

‘Perhaps...?’

It was the same thing he had heard not long ago.

“Did that guy ask you for a favor?” Edward asked John Blake with a stiff expression.

“That guy? He is tentatively the current emperor of the empire. Additionally, it wasn’t a request; it was an order.” John Blake’s nodding face was very serious.

‘This guy really...’ Edward inwardly cursed as he recalled someone’s face. That person was a really bad guy.

“Yes, I will go to war. I will fight a very hard war!” Edward shouted with an expression like he was giving up everything.

“It is a good decision.” John Blake smiled at Edward.

***

The west of the Yusma Empire was still filled with desert explorers. In particular, it became known that there was the Holy Kingdom beyond the pioneering city, so the large guilds often jumped into pioneering. However, it was only for a short time. Most of the big guilds’ goal in pioneering the west was to establish a pioneering city. It just took a long time to build such a city. The large guild had too much work to do to focus on pioneering. In addition, all the big guilds already owned a city.

The large guilds realized that pioneering the west had less merit than expected, so they shook their hands and returned to their original positions. In the end, all that remained were individuals, small parties, or dark gamers. They didn’t risk their lives to build a pioneering city. What they were aiming for were undiscovered cities or quality quests.

Lindbergh, a man with a huge spear on his back, was one of those dark gamers. He had been born into an ordinary family and grown up ordinary. Then he accidentally discovered that he was talented in virtual reality games. Soon after graduating from university, he entered the path of a dark gamer.

Life hadn’t been bad since he became a dark gamer. He didn’t make a lot of money, but he was able to be one of the best earners in his age group. It was just that Lindbergh always longed for a jackpot—one large enough for him to quit the dark gamer life.

‘Today, the jackpot has come to me!’

Lindbergh was currently extremely excited. It was clear that the jackpot he always longed for had finally come to him.

‘There are many guys working hard to pioneer the west, but...’

“The protagonist of the real jackpot is me.”

The thing that Lindbergh found was a dungeon. It was a dungeon that no one had discovered.

[Do you want to enter the tomb of the ancient empire?]

“Enter!!”

Filled with dreams of a jackpot, Lindbergh stepped inside this dungeon.

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