Ranker's Return

Supplementary Story 30

30 and 100—this was the summary of John Blake’s journey south.

John Blake fought 100 battles in 30 days. There were only 100 major battles; there were no small ones.

‘I think I’m almost there...’

John Blake roughly found out the remaining distance to Blanc from a noble he killed recently. Blanc wasn’t far from this city.

‘He said it was a fortnight...’

It was a fortnight for ordinary demons traveling there, so it would be a day or two for John Blake. John Blake killed the noble and moved on for another day. This meant it wouldn’t be strange for him to find Blanc any time now.

At this moment, John Blake’s body staggered slightly as he walked. Of course, he immediately regained his balance.

‘I think I have to get some sleep...’

John Blake checked his physical condition and frowned. He hadn’t reached his limits, but there were problems all over his body. It was understandable. The journey over the past month had been quite difficult for John Blake. He had pushed himself with the determination to return to the middle world.

‘I did overdo it.’

He never slept for more than three hours a day while he traveled for a month to reach Blanc. Even so, it was only at the level of sleeping the bare minimum. It was greedy to want to be normal.

‘It wouldn’t be strange to meet a demon king anytime now.’

Furthermore, there was Demon King Rubolle in Blanc. John Blake didn’t know how powerful Rubolle was, so the only thing he could do was ensure his body was in the best possible condition.

‘That tree is good.’

John Blake looked around and a suitable place entered his eyes. It was a huge tree. Thanks to the lush leaves, the outside view was completely blocked.

‘I will make it here.’

John Blake jumped up and landed lightly on a branch. Then he approached the wooden tree and placed his hand on it. To his surprise, the area that he touched turned to powder and started to scatter. A hole was quickly made. It looked like a woodpecker’s nest but was big enough to fit a person.

John Blake tore off the leaves around him, covered the hole, and went inside.

‘Let’s rest a bit.’

It was only then that he could relax.

***

Winding purple horns that seemed to be 50 centimeters long, stone-like muscles that densely covered the body, and a pair of huge wings that sprouted behind his back—a demon with an overwhelming appearance quickly moved through the forest path.

“I’m really annoyed. Seriously.”

The demon with the overwhelming appearance, Rubolle, wasn't in a good mood. A series of bad things happened on his territory. An unidentified guy was destroying cities. In fact, Rubollle hadn’t really cared when he first heard the news. It was said that a city ruled by a viscount was wiped out, but that was possible for any earl-level demon to do.

‘I didn’t expect a duke to die...’

Yet a few days ago, there was a story about how one of the only two dukes under his command had died. A duke was a subordinate that Rubolle cherished very much. Naturally, a duke’s individual power was enormous; it wasn’t at the level where it was possible to be beaten by any small fries.

‘It is obvious that this isn’t a normal guy considering he even killed a duke...’

Rubolle was now on his way back from the city of the dead duke. He had observed many things there—the corpses of numerous demons and demonic creatures, traces of battle, and even the body of a duke.

‘Was there a noble who used a sword like this?’

Rubolle saw it all, but he couldn’t understand it. Most of the traces left in the city were done by a sword. Based on what Rubolle knew, there were no demons who handled the sword so well.

‘I don’t care who he is.’

Rubolle shook his head slightly. The opponent didn’t matter. The important thing was that someone had messed with Rubolle himself.

“If you are caught, prepare to be beaten to death,” Rubolle growled wildly.

***

‘What?’ Rubolle got a strange feeling as he arrived near Blanc. He immediately stopped and raised his senses. Magic power was fluctuating really finely. Normally, he would’ve passed by without knowing it, but Rubolle’s nerves were a bit tense right now.

‘Above?’

Rubolle lightly kicked off from the ground and soared high in the air. Then he settled gently on top of a huge tree.

‘Where is this place...?’

Rubolle frowned and looked around. There were only leaves all over the place. Obviously, his senses were pointing to this area.

‘I’ll check it.’

He didn’t need to look everywhere. All he had to do was release magic power in moderation to clear the obstructions blocking his view.

Rubolle casually waved his hand. Then several small spheres appeared in the air. The black spheres spread out in all directions and destroyed the branches.

Rubolle’s vision widened momentarily. Just then, something soared into the air from one of the falling branches.

“Who are you?!” The one who appeared was a man with silver hair, and he shouted with a very angry expression.

“Who am I? That is what I want to ask. Who the hell are you?” Rubolle heard the man’s words and was dumbfounded. He was the one who wanted to ask about the man’s identity.

“My name is John.” John Blake, the man with silver hair, proudly revealed his identity.

“John?” Rubolle reflected on the name.

‘I’ve never heard that name before.’

The man in front of him was obviously strong. His name should be famous, yet it was too unfamiliar to Rubolle.

‘Wait... that thing on his waist?’ Rubolle’s gaze shifted to the object at John Blake’s waist.

It was a sword—the weapon used by the unidentified murderer.

“Are you perhaps the jerk who destroyed the city?” Rubolle asked with a growl.

“I don’t know about destroyed... There were just a few minor conflicts,” John Blake replied with a smile.

Yet unlike his expression, he was quite nervous inside.

‘Is this guy Rubolle?’

The demon standing before him now was stronger than any of the demons he had met so far. Rubolle had a much greater aura than the demon who had identified as a duke not long ago. It was too embarrassing to compare them.

‘I’m not fully recovered yet...’

John Blake had recovered from his worst state, but he wasn’t in the best state. He still hadn’t recovered from his fatigue. The fatigue that accumulated over the course of 30 days wasn’t so light that it could be recovered after two or three hours of sleep.

“Are you Rubolle?” John Blake spoke to Rubolle again, who had been silent after hearing his answer.

“Yes, I am the seventh demon king, Rubolle,” Rubolle replied while suppressing his rising anger. It felt like he was a volcano on the verge of exploding.

“Then it is fine.” John Blake gave a strange smile and swung his sword diagonally. A golden pure energy flew toward Rubolle and curved in the shape of a crescent moon.

“This guy?!” Rubolle’s expression distorted as he saw the flying pure energies.

‘I should’ve attacked first...’ Rubolle sniffed and exhaled before immediately responding. He slashed at the flying pure energy with gauntlets that had vicious horns. The golden pure energy bounced far away and cut only the innocent giant trees.

“I will have to half kill you before we can have a conversation.” Rubolle spread out his wings as he spoke and rushed toward John Blake. Rubolle was so fast that his figure seemed to stretch out long. Then Rubolle’s gauntlet and John Blake’s sword collided, and a strong shock wave spread around.

The two of them waved their swords and fists again as if nothing happened. Every time, shock waves spread and destroyed the surroundings. Ignorantly fast and powerful attacks poured out against each other. However, none of them landed properly.

Then there was a moment when the pattern of the battle, which had been flowing smoothly, changed. John Blake started to pull out the techniques he had hidden.

‘The level of his strength is really crazy.’

For the first time in ages, John Blake had a real sense of what it meant to be pushed when it came to strength. Therefore, he was going to push with technique from now on.

‘Shall I see what this is like?’

John Blake’s sword moved in a complex trajectory unlike before.

“......?!” Rubolle’s eyes shook as if an earthquake had occurred.

‘He is lacking in strength, so he is going to compete in fancy moves?’

“There is no chance!” Rubolle saw the sword moving in a dazzling manner and quickly threw out his fist. John Blake’s sword was approaching where his fist was headed. Rubolle had succeeded in predicting the sword’s trajectory. However, there was a sound like metal being scraped.

Rubolle’s expression crumpled when he heard it. ‘It was deflected?’

The sword and gauntlet didn’t openly collide, unlike before. Instead, John Blake’s sword moved up the gauntlet toward the elbow. Rubolle hurriedly moved his opposite arm to tear away John Blake’s sword. Then John Blake’s sword once again showed a change. It stopped rising and clung to Rubolle’s opposite arm.

Rubolle was greatly startled and exclaimed, “This guy?!”

At the same time, his wings spread wide, releasing airwaves from his body instead. John Blake couldn’t overcome the waves and was pushed away. Just then, a golden beam of light flew out and shot into Rubolle’s body.

“Kuaaaaaah!!!” a harsh scream emerged from Rubolle’s mouth. It was because John Blake’s sword had stabbed into his chest. Surprisingly, John Blake released a sword full of magic power even while being pushed away.

“When are you going to fight properly? It has been a while.” John Blake approached Rubolle empty-handed and provoked him.

“Don’t talk... nonsense!” Rubolle once again released airwaves. At the same time, the sword that was stuck in his body shot out. Then John Blake reached out, and the flying sword was sucked into his grasp.

‘There is no chance of winning if we fight more here.’ Rubolle quickly made a decision. In this state, he could never defeat the human in front of him. Unlike him who had strength, this human had both strength and skill. He needed something to help.

‘Greater power!”

Rubolle wanted more power, and he had a way to get that power.

‘I need the magic power stone.’

It was the magic power stone in his territory, Blanc. He could beat the human with overwhelming power if he could absorb the magic power from it.

‘I have to go back right now!’

Rubolle turned around and quickly retreated. He instantly became a dot and disappeared.

“Is he running away?”

John Blake stared in the direction that Rubolle disappeared in and looked stunned.

“Stop!” John Blake started running and quickly followed Rubolle.

In the forest, an untimely chase ensued.

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