Solo Leveling : Ragnarok - Chapter 123
Cha Hae-in, while living with the Ice Elves in their village, devoted considerable effort to finding a way back to Earth.
Whenever she had the chance, she would ride Kaisel and fly through the frozen skies, searching for the dimensional fissure they had crossed to arrive here.
At first, she thought it would be easy to return.
All she had to do was retrace her steps.
But Cha Hae-in quickly encountered obstacles.
Flying through the blinding snowstorms that obstructed her vision was a challenge in itself.
The greater problem, however, was that once she ascended into the sky, she found that the dimensional fissures were not singular.
A world abandoned by its Monarch.
This frozen forest drifted through the dimensional void, tearing itself apart in real-time.
The skies above the frozen forest were riddled with countless dimensional fissures.
Finding the fissure that connected to Earth among them was far from an easy task.
Nonetheless, Cha Hae-in and Kaisel persevered, searching tirelessly through the relentless snowstorms.
And then, disaster struck.
‘-Grrrr…’
“Kaisel?!”
Kaisel, the wyvern that had been her protector, began to weaken day by day.
The reason was simple.
Shadow Soldiers remained immortal because they were sustained by the mana of the Shadow Monarch.
However, due to the great distance between Kaisel and Sung Jinwoo, Kaisel could no longer receive the mana necessary to sustain its existence.
“I can’t let this continue. At this rate, Kaisel will disappear before we even find the gate back to Earth.”
This place was not Earth.
She could not predict where or when enemies might appear.
If an unforeseen, powerful adversary were to show up, Kaisel’s strength would be indispensable.
From that moment on, Cha Hae-in ceased her reckless attempts to search for the gate through the snowstorm.
It was not an act of giving up.
“I’ll trust my husband. If it’s him, he’ll find me no matter where I am.”
Her voice carried unwavering conviction.
Cha Hae-in had faith in Sung Jinwoo.
She believed he would find her no matter where she was, just as he had sought her out in this world—one they were never meant to meet.
Resolving to wait for Sung Jinwoo, Cha Hae-in began teaching the young Ice Elves swordsmanship.
Even if she were to leave one day, she hoped they would grow strong enough to protect themselves from the Ice Spirits that frequently attacked their village.
And it was around that time when Cha Hae-in discovered the “Grey Eyes” near Echo Forest.
—
To find his mother, Suho decided to head to Echo Forest immediately.
“Are you really going?”
The expressions of the Ice Elves watching him were filled with anxiety.
“Will he be okay? Echo Forest is really dangerous…”
“Yeah, even Cha-Cha said that you need to be at least A-rank by human standards to enter.”
“Is Suho A-rank?”
“Why does Suho look so weak even though he’s Cha-Cha’s son? His aura isn’t even half as strong as hers.”
“Come on, that’s true for everyone. No human who’s come here has ever been stronger than Cha-Cha.”
Ironically, not long after Cha Hae-in ventured into Echo Forest, a new gate connecting to Earth had opened, and armed humans began crossing over.
How baffled Cha Hae-in would have been if she had returned and discovered this.
Despite the humans’ arrival, no friendly relationships formed between them and the Ice Elves.
The purpose of the magical beasts’ existence was to serve their Monarchs and carry out their will to “destroy” everything.
They were beings meant to annihilate everything except themselves.
Forming amicable relationships with humans was unthinkable.
In that sense, Cha Hae-in was an exceptional figure.
She was their savior.
Still, had they not been able to communicate, such a relationship might never have been established.
The only reason Cha Hae-in could converse with the Ice Elves was because of a necklace gifted by Sung Jinwoo.
This necklace, prepared as a special gift for their 16th wedding anniversary, contained several unique features, including a translation function.
The function was included for a simple, personal reason:
Sung Jinwoo wanted Cha Hae-in to be able to give orders to Shadow Soldiers who didn’t understand Korean.
Thanks to this trivial feature, Cha Hae-in could communicate with the Ice Elves, preventing conflict.
But for other humans who couldn’t communicate, the Ice Elves saw them as nothing more than prey to be hunted on sight.
When encountering humans, they would only ask one thing:
“Do you know Sung Jinwoo?”
The Ice Elves hoped they might meet someone sent by Cha Hae-in’s husband to find her.
Even if they couldn’t speak the language, they could at least pronounce the name “Sung Jinwoo.” If someone recognized it, they planned to spare them.
Unfortunately…
No one knew Sung Jinwoo.
The Ice Elves couldn’t hide their frustration.
The “Shadow Monarch, Sung Jinwoo” was a figure known to nearly every other race in different dimensions.
He was the sole victor of the long, grueling Monarch War and had become the ruler of all dimensions as a result.
Yet, not a single human on Earth, the ones he saved, remembered him.
It was deeply saddening.
“I’ll guide you to Echo Forest.”
Sirka leapt lightly over the snow and positioned herself in front of Suho.
Her movements were much swifter and more agile than before.
Suho had confirmed that Sirka was not an enemy and even detoxified her from “Kasaka’s Venom.”
With her muscle damage from the snake venom fully recovered, Sirka straightened her posture confidently.
“Ahem. Don’t be fooled by my appearance—I’m the guardian of the Baruka Tribe.”
As a guardian, her role was to protect the borders of Echo Forest. Naturally, she was well-acquainted with the path leading there.
“Then, I’ll leave it to you.”
With that, Suho and Sirka disappeared into the blizzard, heading toward Echo Forest. The Ice Elves in the village stood for a long time, gazing anxiously at their vanishing forms.
—
The moment they arrived at Echo Forest, piercing through the blizzard,
Suho witnessed the true form of the spirits the Ice Elves feared.
Chunks of ice floating in the swirling snow coalesced into monstrous shapes.
[Ice Golem]
[Ice Golem]
[Ice Golem]
…
‘Gwoooooh!’
The ground shook as countless Ice Golems emerged from the forest. Sirka’s face turned pale.
“Be careful! They’re the spirits of Echo Forest! But why are they showing up already?”
At her words, both Suho and Beru’s eyes gleamed with realization.
The spirits, which lacked physical form, had imbued themselves into the ice, manifesting as tangible creatures.
That was the true nature of the Ice Golems.
[Young Lord! It seems the golems outside the dungeon that collapsed the ground were also spirits!]
Before Beru’s exclamation ended, Suho had already drawn his dual swords and was charging toward the Ice Golems.
“Rise!”
‘Shwaaah!’
In that instant, shadows rippled around Suho, and the Shadow Soldiers rose to their feet.
[For I am the spear of my master!]
‘Swoooosh!’
Shadow Spearman Quay darted forward at lightning speed, as if waiting for this moment.
‘Moooorgh!’
‘Boom!’
On either side of Suho, the Shadow Minotaurs, Mino and Tau, charged at the Ice Golems with brute force.
[Shadow Slots Available: 3/3]
These were the only permanent Shadow Soldiers Suho could store. However, Suho had recently extracted a number of temporary soldiers.
“Everyone, come out!”
[Shadow Kobold Lv.1]
[Shadow Kobold Lv.1]
[Shadow Kobold Lv.1]
…
[Shadow Troll Lv.1]
These were the monsters Suho had hunted upon arriving in this realm.
Every single one had been extracted and stored as shadows.
The total number was…
[Extractable Shadows: 36/36]
“Wipe them out!”
‘Kerrek!’
‘Gwoooooh!’
At Suho’s command, a total of 36 Shadow Soldiers charged at the Ice Golems.
“What… what’s with this number?!”
Sirka, initially alarmed by the sudden appearance of the Ice Golems, widened her eyes in disbelief at the army of soldiers Suho had summoned.
“You really are Cha-Cha’s son!”
While Suho’s forces didn’t compare to Cha Hae-in’s shadow wyvern, Kaisel, in sheer power, they made up for it in numbers.
Moreover, unlike Kaisel, who grew weaker the more it fought, Suho’s army was truly immortal as long as his mana didn’t run out.
Even as Sirka stepped back to assist with her bow, she warned Suho about a critical detail he might have missed.
“Suho, be careful! The spirits of Echo Forest are the same! No matter how many times you kill them, they’ll keep coming back!”
‘Moooorgh!’
‘Boom!’
At that moment, the brute strength of Mino and Tau smashed an Ice Golem into pieces.
[You have defeated an Ice Golem.]
[You have defeated an Ice Golem.]
But a surprising phenomenon unfolded.
‘Shwaaah!’
From the shattered remains of the Ice Golems, chilling winds swirled as new spirits entered the ice fragments.
The fragments reassembled into fully restored Ice Golems.
Seeing this, Suho’s eyes glimmered with intrigue.
“They regenerate?”
They were fascinating creatures.
While the mechanism was the opposite of Shadow Soldiers, the end result was the same—endless regeneration.
“This is perfect.”
Suho’s eyes sparkled.
Enemies that regenerated infinitely were undoubtedly a challenge to deal with.
But if the kills still counted…
“This is the perfect place to grind levels.”
‘Clink.’
[Item Purchased: Intermediate Mana Potion]
Suho downed the mana potion in one gulp, baring his teeth with a feral grin.
“Come at me, all of you.”
And become my experience points.
—
[Status Window]
Name: Sung Suho
Level: 40
Class: None
Titles: Wolf Slayer, Nemesis of Insects, Demon Slayer
HP: 15,310/15,310
MP: 2,411/2,411
[Stats]
Strength: 115
Endurance: 49
Agility: 49
Intelligence: 49 (+10)
Perception: 49 (+5)
(Distributable stat points: 0)
[Skills]
– Passive: Toughness Lv.5, Dual Swordsmanship Lv.3, (Unknown) Lv.MAX
– Active: Ruler’s Authority Lv.1, Shadow Extraction Lv.2, Shadow Storage Lv.1, Storm Slash Lv.3, Giant’s Armor Lv.1, Body Strengthening Technique Lv.4, Killing Intent Lv.1, Elven Steps Lv.1, Wind of the Plains Lv.1 (Divine Descent Only)
[Shadow Slots Available]
Extractable Shadows: 36
Storable Shadows: 3
[Blessings]
– Kandiaru’s Blessing
– Rakan’s Blessing
– Plague’s Blessing
[Equipped Items]
– Vulcan’s Horn x2
– Ashen Ring (Perception +5)
– Ring of Horus (Intelligence +10)
– Ice Bear Robe (Defense +50)