Solo Leveling : Ragnarok - Chapter 124
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
…
Suho relentlessly smashed through the endless waves of Ice Golems as he advanced deeper into Echo Forest.
[Clear the path! Keep pushing forward!]
[Death to all cursed creatures who dare block the Young Lord’s way!]
With Quay leading the charge and Beru rallying the troops, Suho’s Shadow Army surged forward unimpeded.
Even if the Ice Golems persistently regenerated and tried to block their way…
Even if it meant walking right into the enemy’s heart…
‘If my mother is ahead of me!’
Suho never halted his advance.
“Break through!”
[Gwoooaaah!]
In a fierce, endless battle of destruction and resurrection, Suho fought at the forefront, shattering and demolishing the Golems with his own hands.
‘…My goodness.’
Sirka, who was watching in shock, couldn’t hide her astonishment.
‘So, this is Cha-Cha’s son.’
If Cha Hae-in’s battles were like a graceful dance, Suho’s combat resembled a raging storm.
At the eye of the storm, he pulverized enemies larger than himself.
[Gwoooooh!]
The Shadow Soldiers were no less fierce.
Led by the twin Shadow Minotaurs, Mino and Tau, they engaged in brutal hand-to-hand combat, their raw strength unleashing overwhelming violence.
When Beru added his encouragement:
[Beru has activated the skill: Harsh Command.]
[Skill: Harsh Command increases the abilities of beast-type Shadow Soldiers by 50%.]
[As a side effect, beast-type Shadow Soldiers fall under the Curse of Madness.]
[Kraaaah!]
Mino and Tau, transformed into berserkers, raged uncontrollably. Their bulging, muscular arms swung wildly, decimating not only the Ice Golems but also the forest itself.
‘Crash!’ ‘Boom!’
‘Kwakwaaaang!’
The devastation was so extreme that even the Ice Golems seemed pitiable.
‘But the real challenge begins now.’
Sirka warned Suho.
“This is Echo Forest! And from here on…”
Before she could finish, a barrage of ice arrows rained down on the Shadow Soldiers from the forest.
‘Swish swish swish swish!’
“…!”
Suho’s eyes narrowed.
The arrows struck the soldiers, instantly freezing their bodies.
Then, ‘Crack!’
The frozen soldiers shattered into pieces on the spot.
Suho quickly scanned the area, seeking the attackers.
Standing atop the dense trees of Echo Forest, familiar figures aimed their bows in his direction.
“Ice Elves?”
“No! They’re…”
Sirka spoke, her expression complicated.
“…Our tribespeople who were possessed by the spirits of Echo Forest.”
‘Ah, so that’s what it is.’
Suho recalled the Ice Elves’ earlier explanation about Echo Forest.
The forest was a forbidden zone, a place where even the Ice Elves themselves could not return alive.
And this was the reason.
‘So being bewitched by the spirits means that.’
Deflecting the arrows with his sword, Suho closely examined the figures.
Standing atop the thick branches, the possessed Ice Elves aimed their bows with hollow, vacant eyes. Their gaze exuded pure madness.
Their bodies were partially frozen, and when hit by counterattacks from the Shadow Soldiers, their torn limbs were reassembled by icy winds, “frozen” back together rather than healed.
“They’re similar to Ice Golems.”
“Technically… they are the same,” Sirka replied grimly.
As if to confirm her words, the possessed Ice Elves bore the label [Ice Golem] above their heads.
The longer the battle went on and the more their wounds were frozen over,
the more their forms transformed from Ice Elves to Ice Golems.
While the Golems outside the forest were spirits embedded in icy blizzards, these Golems were spirits inhabiting the corpses of Ice Elves who had died in Echo Forest.
Yet, even in death, their bodies retained the skills they had in life, firing arrows with unnerving precision.
Suho realized something.
“Were these the ones who fired the arrows earlier?”
The Ice Golems that had collapsed the ground and caused him to fall here… The ones who had attacked with arrows before their appearance…
It must have been them.
These creatures were all on the same side.
‘…Which means there must be another gate somewhere in this forest that connects outside.’
After all, there was no way these creatures could have flown across dimensions to Earth. There had to be another passage.
“I… I can’t go any further.”
Sirka, who had followed Suho thus far, hesitated and stopped.
“I want to continue, but if I go deeper, the spirits will possess me too.”
Suho glanced at her.
In this disorienting blizzard, Sirka had proven to be an excellent guide, and he wanted to keep her around.
“Is there no way to block the spirits?”
“Almost none. Our tribe has a strong affinity with the spirits, so if they target me, there’s almost no way to protect my mind.”
“Almost none? So there is a way?”
“Uh, well…”
Sirka hesitated and looked at Suho with a shy expression.
“Just asking, but that fur robe…”
“The fur robe? Oh, this?”
“Yeah. That’s Ice Bear fur, isn’t it?”
“Oh. Yeah.”
When Suho nodded, Sirka fidgeted and spoke up.
“Actually… the ice spirits don’t get along with Ice Bears. If I wear that fur robe, the spirits won’t come near me.”
“Ah, so that’s what it was about?”
“A-ah! N-no, I wasn’t asking for your robe! I know how important an Ice Bear’s fur is to a warrior—it’s a symbol of their strength, and I understand its significance to someone who hunted such a beast…”
‘Clink.’
[Item purchased: Ice Bear Robe.]
“Here, wear this.”
“…!”
Sirka’s eyes widened as Suho suddenly produced a brand-new fur robe in his hands. Overwhelmed with emotion, her eyes glistened.
“You… you’re such a good person!”
“Just put it on already. Can’t you see I’m busy?”
Even as they spoke, a storm of arrows rained down relentlessly from all directions.
Sirka quickly donned the robe, and Suho opened his inventory to switch out his own equipment.
Among his prepared items for the Glacier Dungeon were two bows.
One was a powerful longbow purchased using Ryo Singh’s corporate card.
The other was a remarkable bow lent to him by Im Taegyu, the guild master of the Reaper Guild.
[Reaper’s Bow (Replica)]
– Difficulty to Acquire: A
– Type: Bow
– Attack Power: +90
– A mass-produced replica modeled after the Reaper Guild’s iconic weapon, the “Reaper’s Bow (S).”
– While its attack power is average for its grade, it excels at concentrating magical arrows, tripling the effects of archer skills.
While the item wasn’t particularly crucial for Suho, who didn’t generate mana arrows like traditional archers but used Shadow Soldiers as projectiles, it was still wise to accept a free weapon in case of unexpected challenges.
‘Good thing I kept it.’
Grabbing the longbow bought by Ryo Singh, Suho handed the Reaper’s Bow (Replica) to Sirka.
“Here, I’m lending this to you. Fight with it.”
“…!”
Sirka’s expression, already stunned from receiving the robe, now turned into sheer disbelief.
“W-what? You’re giving me such an incredible bow?!”
“I’m lending it to you. It’s not even mine.”
“Thank you so much! I’ll give it my all!”
Her meaning became clear immediately.
With the replica bow held reverently in both hands, Sirka’s aura shifted entirely.
If Beru’s Harsh Command drove beast-type monsters mad, then a good bow could drive an archer insane.
‘Shwaaah!’
Magical energy swirled fiercely around Sirka’s bow, creating six mana arrows at once.
“This is amazing?!”
Previously limited to creating two mana arrows simultaneously, Sirka was awestruck by her newfound capability.
When she loosed the arrows, they flew at blinding speed, intercepting and destroying the incoming enemy arrows mid-flight.
‘Crack!’
The clashing arrows shattered into icy dust in the air.
“Trust me! I’ll guide you to where Cha-Cha might be!”
Reinvigorated, Sirka confidently took the lead again.
But then…
“Move aside.”
A chill ran down her spine. She spun around to see Suho standing behind her, his longbow drawn, a massive black arrow nocked and ready to fire.
“Go wild, Quay.”
‘Kwooong!’
A black lightning bolt shot through the blizzard like a ferocious storm.
“My goodness.”
Sirka watched in shock.
The black arrow wasn’t just powerful—it zigzagged through the air as if it had a mind of its own, piercing through the enemy ranks.
‘Crash!’ ‘Shatter!’
The Ice Elves struck by the arrow shattered like glass sculptures, their bodies breaking apart in a chain reaction.
In that instant, Sirka noticed something incredible.
As the Ice Elves’ bodies crumbled, the spirits of Echo Forest began to dissipate like smoke, leaving the empty corpses behind.
But new spirits surged forward, ready to claim the vacant bodies.
Suho noticed this as well.
“I won’t let you have them.”
Unlike the Ice Golems outside the forest, which were merely ice constructs, these creatures had tangible bodies—corpses, albeit partially frozen.
Until the spirits reclaimed them, they were still viable targets.
[Shadow Extraction is available.]
[Shadow Extraction is available.]
[Shadow Extraction is available.]
…
A smirk spread across Suho’s face.
He quickly dismissed several Shadow Kobolds to free up slots.
Before the spirits could reclaim the precious corpses,
“Rise.”
Suho claimed them first.
‘Shwaaaah!’
From the shattered remains of the Ice Elves, black shadows surged upward like a whirlwind.
[Shadow Extraction succeeded.]
[Shadow Extraction succeeded.]
[Shadow Extraction succeeded.]
…