Ranker's Return

Supplementary Story 31

‘I can’t let him go!’

John Blake frantically chased after Rubolle. Did such willpower come through? The distance between him and Rubolle started to shrink little by little. However, it was only for a moment. The moment Rubolle spread out his wings and started to fly in earnest, the distance between the two of them widened once again.

This was the starting point.

“It is a foul speed,” a curse emerged from John Blake’s mouth. Rubolle could be fast, but this was too fast. John Blake wasn’t able to catch up. Nevertheless, he did his best to chase after him.

How long did he run while being unable to narrow the distance?

A huge wall loomed in the distance. John Blake suddenly stopped in place when he saw the city walls and took calm breaths.

‘It is wrong to catch up with him.’

Now there was no chance of catching up with Rubolle before he reached the city walls. Then it was time for John Blake to try something else.

“Huup.” John Blake took a deep breath, moved his right hand behind his head, and leaned back. It was like he was getting ready to throw something. Just then, a golden spear suddenly appeared in John Blake’s empty hands. At the same time, John Blake’s tilted upper body fell forward.

The golden spear flew in a straight line toward the wall while giving off overwhelming momentum. It was so fast that it seemed to draw a golden line through the air.

Meanwhile, the quickly flying Rubolle turned his head at the eerie sound. ‘What?’

A golden beam of light was flying toward him at a tremendous speed. Rubolle’s eyes widened when he saw it.

‘It is his attack!’

At some point, he stop sensing an aura following him, so he thought the human had given up. Yet the human launched such a formidable attack?

‘I have to stop it.’

There was no escaping it. He felt John Blake’s strong will from the flying attack. If Rubolle tried to dodge it, there was a possibility it would bend and follow him. For now, the better choice was to block it than to dodge.

‘A little more...!’

Rubolle released a huge amount of magic power in a single breath and gained a formidable momentum. He used that force to accelerate and shoot out faster.

‘That’s it.’

After a while, Rubolle stopped with a smile. The place where he stood now wasn’t far from the wall.

‘Now I can use the magic power from the magic power stone!’

Just then, Rubolle’s entire body started to fill with magic power like crazy, and he felt a sense of fullness like never before.

“Kuhaha! This isn’t enough to stop me!” Rubolle burst out laughing and punched the flying golden spear. There was the sound of an explosion that seemed to burst in his eardrums as he blew the golden spear apart.

“It is my turn!” Rubolle threw his fist again.

His black pure energy flew like lightning in the direction of the golden spear. John Blake quickly raised his sword, lightly deflected the flying pure energy, and rushed toward Rubolle.

‘Has the wound already recovered?’ John Blake frowned as he faced Rubolle. The wound that should’ve been on Rubolle’s chest was gone. It was as if it had been washed away.

‘He has changed. Completely.’

That wasn’t all. Rubolle’s aura was different from at the beginning. It could almost be believed that the Rubolle he saw in the forest and the Rubolle in front of him now were completely different beings.

“So you had a reason to run away,” John Blake said.

“It was a step back for two steps forward.” Rubolle slowly approached John Blake with a confident expression.

‘Is this what a demon king is like...?’

No matter how much the situation had changed, John Blake found Rubolle’s excessive confidence a bit funny. Battles weren’t won with just having a lot of magic power. Things had to come together in harmony.

‘I think it is a bit lacking...’

“Was this the reason?” John Blake clicked his tongue.

Rubolle possessed an outstanding body. It was appropriate to call it destructive. If immense magic power was added to it, the execution of his techniques would naturally regress.

“It isn’t confidence but conceit.”

“Conceit? That is something you should say when you defeat me.” Rubolle grinned. John Blake’s words sounded like worthless provocation. Rubolle thought he was invincible now that he had the magic power of the magic power stone supporting him.

“First of all, you should be hit as well.” Rubolle’s body stretched out the moment he finished speaking. He moved much faster than when he was in the forest. In response, John Blake swung his golden pure energy into the void.

The moment the sword and gauntlet collided, a shockwave—which was so strong it was incomparable to the time in the forest—formed and wrapped around them.

“Kuhahaha! Conceit? Can you say this even after experiencing it yourself?” Rubolle burst out laughing when he saw John Blake reeling from the aftermath of the collision.

‘I can’t believe I forgot about the restriction...’ John Blake smiled. He’d made a ridiculous mistake. In fact, the magic power of the demon world was mainly the dark attribute. Therefore, there were significant restrictions on the use of magic power with attributes other than the dark attribute. John Blake’s magic power wasn’t the dark attribute, and he naturally had no way to escape from this constraint.

‘It is now grabbing at my ankles.’

Some of John Blake’s magic power was as hard as a stone and didn’t move. This was the effect of the restriction. It hadn’t caused any major problems previously, but it was triggered when he tried to use all the magic power he had.

‘Nevertheless, I can win.’

John Blake was sure of it. The process would be a bit harder, but the result wouldn’t change.

“My answer will always be the same. You will see when I take your life.” John Blake raised his sword and aimed it at Rubolle. Then the pressure coming from him changed drastically. The sword alone incited anticipation for a cut, just like if it were a rare and famous sword.

‘Is he still hiding something?!’ Rubolle was horrified by John Blake’s change. It was unbelievable that this human hadn’t done his best against a demon king until now.

‘I am even greedier.’

The more this happened, the more he wanted to obtain John Blake as his subordinate. If he could just control the human, he would be able to strike out among the evenly-matched demon kings.

“Let me see if you are as good as you say.” Rubolle moved again. He punched several times more fiercely than before. However, John Blake casually deflected the fists that poured down like a shower of rain. Rather, he launched a counterattack between Rubolle’s fists.

‘Everything is slowly starting to be revealed.’ John Blake smiled.

Rubolle’s attacks were becoming more and more familiar to him. The amount of Rubolle’s magic power increased proportionately, and his attacks became simpler. He just became faster and stronger.

Rubolle’s gauntlet narrowly passed by the side of John Blake’s face. Even so, John Blake quickly stabbed his sword with a casual expression. The golden pure energy flashed past Rubolle’s cheek. A small solid line formed on his cheek, and some blood splashed out. This result was the opposite of what Rubolle wanted.

John Blake wasn’t touched, and Rubolle got a slight cut on his cheek.

‘I will lose if it goes on like this.’ Rubolle was astonished. There were already five cuts on his body. This number would just increase even further as the battle continued. It was obvious that the word ‘defeat’ was waiting at the end of it.

‘That can’t happen.’

In the demon world, defeat meant losing everything. Rubolle had no intention of losing what he had.

‘I have to bend down once.’

So Rubolle intended to try something called conversation. He never would’ve thought of this if his opponent were a demon. However, it was a human, so there was a possibility that a conversation would work. Rubolle stepped back and said to John Blake, “You are strong.”

“What about my strength?” John Blake made a questioning expression at Rubolle’s sudden behavior.

“I suddenly have a question.”

“A question?”

“Why did you destroy the city?”

“It wasn’t that I destroyed it. They didn’t know the subject and attacked me first.” John Blake frowned. He had to set it straight with his words. He didn’t attack first; he only fought back when the demons and demonic creatures attacked him.

“Is there another reason?”

“Another reason? No.”

Rubolle sighed slightly when he saw John Blake shaking his head.

‘He is only a human in appearance, but he is obviously a demon...’

The fact that fists were better than words was a perfect fit for demons. It was completely different from the description of human beings conveyed in books.

“Oh, if there needs to be a reason, it is this,” John Blake said.

Rubolle listened carefully to John Blake’s following words. There was a clue in this conversation.

John Blake continued, “As you know, I am human. The place where humans live isn’t here, but the middle world. I want to know how to go back to the middle world.”

Rubolle’s expression became strange. He knew how to get to the middle world. He could use the movement magic circle that was connected to the middle world.

‘There is a magic circle in the Blanc castle...’

The problem was that Rubolle also used this magic from time to time. He was sending over some demonic creatures as experiments. Right now, only the lowest-grade demonic creatures were sent. Then once the magic circle was stable, he planned to send large-scale troops and nobles to the middle world. That was the day the invasion of the middle world would begin.

‘This guy is a hindrance in the plan to invade the middle world.’

It was clear that a strong human like John Blake would inevitably become a stumbling block in this plan.

“How to return to the middle world? Is there such a thing? Then I would also like to know.” Rubolle naturally pretended not to know. It was so natural that no one knew he was bluffing.

“Is there really no way?” John Blake asked again with a stiff expression.

In contrast to John Blake, Rubolle had a slight smile on his face. “If you can wait for black magicians to summon you, that is a possible method.”

“Do I have to spend the rest of my life in the demon world...?” A sigh flowed from John Blake’s mouth. He didn’t want to believe it.

‘I can’t believe I have to live in a place like this...’

It was hopeless. He had lived his whole life for the empire, so he wanted to live for himself now.

‘There are so many things I still want to do...’

Just then, Rubolle said to the frustrated John Blake, “If you need help, I am willing to help you.”

“You are going to help me?” John Blake asked with wide eyes. He thought he heard incorrectly.

“Yes, I’ll help you.”

“How are you going to help?”

“Just because I am a demon king doesn’t mean I have a lot of knowledge. There are others who have a lot of knowledge.

“What is the possibility that they will know this?”

“I don’t know that, but isn’t it better to ask rather than do nothing?”

John Blake shut up. Rubolle was right.

‘Then why?’ a question rose in John Blake’s mind. Rubolle’s sudden favor toward him was questionable.

“Why are you helping me?”

“The demon world respects the strong. You have proven to be strong enough to be respected. That is why I am going to help.” Rubolle told a lie that no one would believe.

‘I can’t believe it...’ John Blake also knew that Rubolle’s words weren’t the truth. Yet regardless of whether it was true or false, he decided it was better to get help for now.

‘Going back to the middle world is the top priority...’

“Is there anything I should do?” John Blake asked cautiously. He would cooperate to some extent if it meant returning to the middle world earlier.

“My loss of power was too great because of you. Stay as a nobleman under my command until you return to the middle world,” Rubolle answered.

John Blake nodded in a cool manner. Rubolle’s demands weren’t very unreasonable; they were easy enough to do.

“Okay, then please take care of me.” John Blake approached Rubolle and extended a hand.

“Please take care of me as well, Duke John.” Rubolle smiled as he took John Blake’s hand and shook it. His smile was that of a deceiver.

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