Solo Leveling : Ragnarok - Chapter 102

“Kraaaahhh!”

“This… these bastards have gone mad.”

Looking at the demons pouring toward him, the Blood-Crazed Tyrant couldn’t believe the situation unfolding before his eyes.

The demon realm, bereft of a monarch and now without any remaining nobles, was a world that had truly fallen into ruin. The demons who had managed to survive up to this point were nothing more than pathetic worms.

They were worthless creatures whose greatest honor was to be worked to death as slaves.

And yet, those wretched, insignificant beings were now daring to rebel against him.

No, they were drooling and lunging at him as if they intended to devour him.

Furious, the Blood-Crazed Tyrant summoned forth blue flames.

“You filthy savages, how dare you bare your fangs at me!”

Fwoooosh!

Sacred Flame.

The life-giving fire that perpetually burned within the apostles serving the Itarim—gods from a distant, outer universe—spread across the colosseum, engulfing the demons that attacked him from all sides.

“Kyaaaah…!”

The demons, utterly powerless before the blue flames, burned to death like moths drawn to a lamp.

But the demons, already driven into a frenzy, continued to rush toward the Blood-Crazed Tyrant, using the charred corpses of their comrades as shields.

“Just one bite!”
“If I can just get one bite!”
“One bite is enough to grow stronger!”
“Kraaaahhh!”

Demons.

This was truly hell.

“These crazy bastards…”

The Blood-Crazed Tyrant was overwhelmed.

Were these horrifying creatures really the same slaves that had meekly submitted to his rule until now?

As an apostle of the Itarim, his mission was to dominate and conquer this world.

But this?

This felt as though—

‘I’ve become the prey!’

Humiliation surged within him.

He refused to accept that the emotion coursing through him was fear.

“Raaaaagh! I’ll kill you all! I’ll burn everything to ash to fuel my flames!”

Kuwaaahhh!

“Aaargh…!”

Flames erupted with the intent to engulf the entire world.

Demons rained down endlessly, smothering the blue flames with their bodies.

And as their ashes scattered in all directions, the Blood-Crazed Tyrant laughed maniacally in the midst of it all.

“Kahaha! My strength is returning! Losing a few worthless slaves was a small price to pay—my sacred flame will burn forever!”

His gaze shifted, searching for Suho, the one who had caused this chaos.

Though he had suffered some losses, the demon realm wasn’t limited to this place alone. As long as he replenished his strength, he could find and conquer another fragment of the demon realm floating in the dimensional rift.

But there was one thing he had overlooked.

As he killed countless demons to restore his drained power, the souls of those slain demons were being drawn to a specific point.

“W-wait… no way!”

The Blood-Crazed Tyrant’s eyes widened in shock as he witnessed the scene from afar.

“…Ha. There it is.”

At the center of it all, Suho stood with a deeply satisfied smile, holding up Vulcan’s Horn.

Swooooosh!

[Vulcan’s Horn devours the souls of demons.]
[Vulcan’s Horn devours the souls of demons.]
[Vulcan’s Horn devours the souls of demons.]
[Vulcan’s Horn devours…]

……

The ravenous Vulcan’s Horn voraciously consumed the souls of the demons slain by the Blood-Crazed Tyrant.

“Yeah, eat to your heart’s content. Until you’re ready to burst.”

Swooooosh!

[Souls Devoured: 83 → 97 → 113 → …]

It was as if he had hit the jackpot.

The count of devoured souls climbed relentlessly.

And finally—

Ding!

[Vulcan’s Horn feels satiated.]

The seemingly bottomless appetite of Vulcan’s Horn was finally sated.

—

[Item: Vulcan’s Horn]
Acquisition Difficulty: ??
Type: Sword
Attack Power: +40

A sword crafted from the horn of the gluttonous demon Vulcan.
It is imbued with Vulcan’s authority, increasing its destructive power.

– Effect: “Destruction Urge”
Physical damage is increased by [300%].

– Effect: “Demon Devourer”
The more demon souls it devours, the stronger Vulcan’s authority becomes.

[Devoured Souls: Satiated]

—

Success.

A 300% increase in physical damage.

Suho had maximized the growth potential of Vulcan’s Horn.

“Unbelievable. To use it like this?”

Esil couldn’t help but marvel.

While the Blood-Crazed Tyrant had been busy restoring his power, Suho had used that very process to amplify his own strength to the extreme.

But Suho wasn’t done yet.

“Are you satisfied now?”

Suho smirked and raised Vulcan’s Horn high.

“Then cough it up, Vulcan.”

As if in response to his words—

Ding.

A notification appeared.

[You have completed the “Emergency Quest: Vulcan’s Greed.”]
[Completion rewards have arrived.]
[Would you like to check your reward?] (Y/N)

He already knew what the reward was.

With a grin, Suho reached out his hand.

Fwaaash!

In his hand, a second Vulcan’s Horn appeared.

—

[Item: Vulcan’s Horn-2]
Acquisition Difficulty: ??
Type: Sword
Attack Power: +40

A sword crafted from the horn of the gluttonous demon Vulcan.
It is imbued with Vulcan’s authority, increasing its destructive power.

– Effect: “Destruction Urge”
Physical damage is increased by [300%].

—

Perhaps because only the original Vulcan had felt satiated, the amplification effect of the second Vulcan’s Horn was also set at 300%.

Confirming this, Suho smirked as he replaced Rakan’s Fang in his hands with both Vulcan’s Horns.

“At this point, I don’t need Rakan’s Fang anymore. Maybe I’ll sell it to fund the guild.”

Using Two Identical Swords is Perfect for Dual Swordsmanship.

When using dual swords, having two identical blades provides better balance, doesn’t it?

However, there was one being who was utterly horrified by that statement…

[The Beast King, Monarch of Fangs, jolts awake in shock.]
[The Beast King, Monarch of Fangs, insists he has a better idea and requests to talk.]
[The Beast King, Monarch of Fangs, stomps his feet, demanding not to be ignored.]

But Suho was no longer paying attention to Rakan’s messages. Instead, he dashed toward the Blood-Crazed Tyrant at an incredible speed.

Ssssshhhhh—!

“……!”

Seeing Suho’s sudden charge, the Blood-Crazed Tyrant’s eyes widened in alarm. Without hesitation, Suho swung his swords.

“Thanks. You saved me some effort.”

[Skill: Body Strengthening Technique activated.]
[Skill: Storm Slash activated…]

Boom!

“Kraaah…!”

The damage inflicted on the Blood-Crazed Tyrant was on an entirely different level this time.

Even the blue flames that burned fiercely around his body were torn apart into countless fragments by Suho’s dual swords.

“This… this can’t be happening… To think I would lose to such a….”

As the ominous flames flickering around his body extinguished, the Blood-Crazed Tyrant’s voice trailed off weakly.

And then, finally—

“Oh, Itarim….”

Thud.

[You have defeated the Blood-Crazed Tyrant.]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]

The demons who had survived were utterly shocked by the Blood-Crazed Tyrant’s death.

The madness that had driven them to attack him just moments ago vanished, leaving them in stunned silence.

“……He’s dead?”
“The Tyrant King?”
“Did he really die like this?”

It was unbelievable.

True shock and terror filled the air.

The cruel king who had enslaved them for so long had disappeared before their very eyes.

Not even a corpse remained.

Even the guards who had directly oppressed them under the Tyrant’s rule had been consumed by flames.

Now, they wondered—

‘What happens to us now?’

“……”

The demons couldn’t even voice their thoughts aloud, so deeply ingrained was their life as slaves.

At that moment—

“Esil.”

In the heavy silence, Suho called out to Esil.

“It’s your turn now.”

[…]

In Suho’s view, there was only one way to cleanly resolve the chaos caused by the loss of their ruler.

‘I can’t keep pretending to be Vulcan’s son forever.’

The demon realm Suho had observed so far operated under a strict hierarchy.

The strong ruled.

Stronger demons devoured weaker ones and reigned supreme.

Now that the ruling demon monarch and nobles had vanished from this land, the entire structure had collapsed.

It was no wonder that even an apostle of the Itarim had appeared to enslave its inhabitants.

This all stemmed from the absence of a pure-blooded ruler.

“That’s why you must step forward. From now on, you will rule this place.”

If they didn’t establish order now, it was only a matter of time before another Itarim apostle appeared to seize control.

[Understood.]

Ssssaaaa.

At Suho’s words, Esil finally emerged from Vulcan’s Horn.

Tap.

“……!”

Her sudden appearance drew the demons’ collective gaze.

It couldn’t be helped.

The moment they saw Esil, they instinctively realized the truth.

All the misconceptions they’d held about Suho being a hidden son of Vulcan or an aristocratic demon vanished in an instant.

The aura emanating from Esil was unmistakable.

Pure blood!

The undeniable presence of a demon noble radiated from her.

“A-a noble…”
“She’s a real noble…”

If the situation had been any different, the demons might not have reacted this way.

After all, they were the same demons who had fearlessly tried to devour the terrifying Blood-Crazed Tyrant.

But this was different.

“Kneel.”

At Esil’s single command, they instinctively dropped to their knees before her.

“I am Esil Radir, eldest daughter of the House of Radir. The last remaining demon noble in this world.”

With a haughty gaze, Esil slowly surveyed the demons bowing their heads to her.

Long ago, during the demon realm’s golden age, this colosseum had served a specific purpose.

It was a stage where demon nobles competed for honor in duels.

And at the end of those duels, when the hierarchy was established, the victor would always proclaim their rights as the winner.

Following that ancient tradition, Esil asserted her authority before the demons in the colosseum.

“I hereby declare: From this moment on, this land is the territory of the House of Radir.”

Waaahhhhh!

Thunderous cheers erupted from the crowd.

The sound was entirely different from the malicious jeers that had filled the colosseum during executions.

“……And.”

But Esil’s proclamation was not over.

“As the last remaining demon noble, Esil Radir decrees—”

Esil’s gaze briefly flicked toward Suho.

“……?”

“Our demon realm will enter an all-out war against the Outer Gods, the Itarim. To ensure that we are never again enslaved by beings like the Blood-Crazed Tyrant…”

As the last pure-blooded noble, Esil was the only rightful candidate to lead the demon realm.

The demons, understanding this truth, ignited their demonic energy at her words.

“We will fight.”

Ooooooooh!