Solo Leveling : Ragnarok - Chapter 26

The mention of the name caused greed to flare in the demons’ eyes.

“Radir?”

“Did you say the Radir family?!”

The demons’ lips twisted into wide, grotesque grins as they burst into laughter.

“Could there still be a surviving demon from the Radir family?”

“Kahaha! What a big catch this time!”

The blood of demon nobility was precious. Especially now, when all the noble families had been wiped out and only mongrels were left in the demon realm!

“Don’t give it any room to breathe!”

The demons immediately lunged at Esil, a demon of the Radir family.

Their bodies grew explosively larger, and their elongated claws dripped with evil energy as they aimed to take Esil’s life.

“How dare you, mere low-class demons!”

Esil deftly evaded all their attacks with a leap, swinging her spear without hesitation.

However, the low-class demons scoffed, continuing to press her.

“Kehaha! The world has changed too much for such rankings to matter anymore!”

“Who would have thought we’d live to hunt a demon noble!”

“Grr…!”

Esil gritted her teeth, her expression filled with frustration. Having been chased by countless demons for so long in the demon realm, her stamina had long been exhausted. To make matters worse, he had been forcibly summoned to Earth in her original form, placing further constraints on her power.

The way to lift this restriction was through “possession.” These low-class demons had possessed humans, taking over their bodies, and then developed “star dust” to amplify their strength.

A battle between a weakened demon noble and low-class demons with enhanced power… The outcome was obvious.

“Kahaha! Pureblood! A pureblood!”

“We could make star dust from a pureblood!”

[My Liege.]

At that moment, a quiet whisper came to Su-ho’s ear from Beru, who had suddenly appeared beside him.

Su-ho, who had discreetly slipped to the back amidst the sudden battle, nodded.

“Yes, now is the time.”

Su-ho nodded and exchanged a glance with the hunters hiding in the wagon. The hunters nodded back, quietly getting to their feet.

‘This unexpected situation actually works in our favor.’

Their initial plan had been as follows:

1) **Infiltration**: Su-ho, disguised in a crow mask and black robe, would sneak into the factory, pretending to be the youngest demon.

2) **Distraction**: Su-ho would then cause a “distraction” from within, drawing the demons’ attention to himself.

3) **Escape**: Meanwhile, the hunters, disguised as bloodied captives, would rescue the imprisoned people in the factory and make their escape.

But before Su-ho could cause a distraction, this unexpected situation had arisen.

‘We’ll stick to the plan.’

The hunters in the wagon, including Instructor Im, were all users of “speed”-related skills.

*Swish.*

Su-ho and the hunters vanished from their spots simultaneously. In an instant, they reached the people tied up in the corner and covered their mouths.

“Shh.”

“……!”

Quickly exchanging glances, those who understood nodded with fear-stricken expressions.

*Snap.*

Su-ho tore apart the chains binding them with his strength.

‘Got it!’

Instructor Im’s heart pounded with the urge to flee immediately.

‘Now we just have to carry them and run!’

As he was about to carry one of the civilians on his back—

“Huh?”

One of the low-class demons fighting Esil noticed them.

“What are you doing over there, not fighting, youngest?”

Suspicion flashed in the demon’s eyes, visible through the crow mask.

Instead of answering, Su-ho shouted, “Run!”

*Swish!*

At that moment, the hunters, with the civilians slung over their shoulders, dashed away at full speed. Their target was the exit!

“Where do you think you’re going?!”

A few of the demons fighting Esil quickly moved to block their path.

*Swoosh!*

Malevolent energy surged toward the hunters.

Su-ho shouted from behind, “Don’t stop! Keep running!”

At his words, the hunters pushed themselves even harder, running faster. As they did, the demons’ attacks grew closer, but…

‘Trust in him!’

They trusted Su-ho and kept running.

And Su-ho did not betray their trust.

“Rise!”

In an instant—

[Keerrrk!]

“……!”

*Grab! Grab! Grab!*

*Grab! Grab! Grab!*

The shadow goblins Su-ho had planted near the entrance earlier thrust their arms out from the ground, grabbing the demons’ legs.

“What the…?!”

The demons were shocked.

But it was too soon to be surprised.

[Kiheek!]

[Kehehet!]

The shadow goblins were nasty by nature. They mercilessly slashed at the demons’ ankles with their butchering knives.

“Kraaagh!”

The human bodies the demons possessed were weak. A mere scratch to their Achilles tendon rendered them powerless.

As the demons screamed and collapsed, unable to stand—

‘Now!’

The hunters swiftly bypassed them and successfully escaped the factory.

Instructor Im, the last one out through the iron door, glanced back at Su-ho, who remained inside.

‘Are you really going to be okay?’

Seeing Su-ho’s nod and sly smile, Instructor Im knew what he meant.

Then—

*Bang!*

The iron door slammed shut.

Escape time: 3 seconds.

The demons tore apart the shadow goblins and got back on their feet: 2 seconds.

Total: 5 seconds.

Everything was going smoothly.

‘Now all that’s left is…’

My turn.

Su-ho quickly counted the number of demons.

Excluding the recently summoned purple-haired demon—

‘Nine in total.’

The problem was that each of these demons was about the same level as the “youngest” he had barely managed to defeat earlier.

But—

‘I can handle this.’

Su-ho’s gaze dropped to his own shadow.

And then—

“Rise.”

He summoned the shadow soldier he had extracted before infiltrating this place.

“Broki.”

…!

In that moment, a massive shadow surged before Su-ho.

*Swoosh!*

[Broki Lv.1]

Knight Rank

A massive hyena beast whose entire body boils with black steam.

This was Su-ho’s initial plan for creating a “distraction.” Although the order had been reversed, the situation was now even better for hunting demons.

[Kyaoooh-!]

Broki’s roar, filled with murderous intent, shook the factory.

“What, what is this?!”

The demons, who had been relentlessly attacking Esil, were thrown into confusion.

“Why is Broki here?!”

“Wait, something seems different…?”

The demons were already familiar with Broki, who had been the power behind the Hyena Guild.

After all, the Hyena Guild had been a major supplier of humans for the demons to use as ingredients for star dust.

This dramatically improved the situation.

But there was still a problem.

From Su-ho’s experience fighting both Broki and the demons, he knew that Broki was stronger in a one-on-one fight. However, there were nine demons. As things stood, victory was uncertain.

However…

What if this?

“Beru!”

[Kiieek!]

At Su-ho’s call, a malevolent aura spread from Beru’s small body in all directions.

[Beru uses ‘Skill: Harsh Command’.]

[Skill: Harsh Command increases Broki’s stats by 50%.]

[Due to the side effects of ‘Skill: Harsh Command’, Broki is cursed with madness.]

[Kyaaa!]

Broki lunged at the demons without warning.

*Boom!*

“Gah?!”

The demons were helplessly thrown away by Broki’s massive forepaw, swung like a baseball bat.

And as the demons crashed into the concrete walls, Su-ho’s dual swords whirled toward them.

‘Whirlwind Slash!’

[Skill: Whirlwind Slash activated.]

*Kwoooom-!*

Su-ho spun like a typhoon, pressing the attack.

[Low-class demon eliminated.]

[Low-class demon eliminated…]

“Huff… Huff…”

Thanks to this, Esil, who had been fighting desperately alone, finally caught her breath.

But instead of feeling relieved, her eyes widened in shock as he saw the rampaging Broki.

“Could that beast be…?”

[Kyaoo!]

*Bang! Bang!*

A massive black beast driving the demons back with tank-like force.

As far as Esil knew, there was only one person in the world who commanded such a summoned beast.

The one who had single-handedly annihilated the demon realm long ago.

The one who had destroyed every demon in his path, eventually defeating the Demon Lord Baran.

That fearsome and great name…

“Could it be that Sung Jinwoo is here?!”

Esil’s face, which had been exuding a frosty aura, suddenly brightened.

He anxiously looked around, searching for Sung Jinwoo.

“Where! Where is he? Jinwoo ni—”

And finally, he found him.

“…Huh?”

It wasn’t Sung Jinwoo, but…

A face strikingly similar to a young Sung Jinwoo’s.

“What the…?”

Esil tilted her head in confusion.

At that moment—

[It’s been a while.]

Beru appeared in front of Esil, sliding into view.

“Who… No way, Beru?!”

Esil was shocked to see Beru’s changed appearance after so long.

“Why are you so small now?”

The Beru he remembered was a fearsome monster, even more terrifying than the demons, who had slaughtered enemies alongside Sung Jinwoo.

Yet now, Beru had shrunk to a cute, fist-sized figure.

Conversely, Beru was just as curious.

[And you, you’ve grown quite weak. What happened?]

“Hehe. I’ve been through some tough times.”

Even as blood streamed down her body, Esil chuckled sheepishly.

Beru snorted, finding her pathetic.

[Still so carefree when you’re on the verge of death.]

“As long as I’m not dead yet, it’s fine, right? Eheh.”

[What on earth happened in the demon realm…]

*Thud.*

Before Beru could finish, Esil collapsed on the spot. Seeing Beru seemed to have drained all her tension.

Lying flat on the ground, Esil groaned and called out to Beru.

“Beru, I feel like I’m really going to die. Could you heal me?”

[No.]

“Why not?”

[It’s a waste of magic.]

Realizing the blunt rejection, Esil understood.

“Aha, you’re weak now too, aren’t you?”

[Kiieek! I am not!]

Beru snapped angrily.

Meanwhile, Su-ho’s battle continued.

[Low-class demon eliminated.]

[Low-class demon eliminated.]

[Volkan’s Horn devours the demon’s soul.]

[Volkan’s Horn devours the demon’s soul.]

…

The battle was already tilting completely in Su-ho’s favor.

“Harsh Command,” which boosted Broki’s stats by 50%, had a much higher amplification rate than star dust.

Moreover, with each demon killed, Su-ho grew stronger.

[Soul of devoured demon: 3]

[Soul of devoured demon: 4]

…

[Effect ‘Destruction Urge’: Physical damage increased by [33%].]

[Effect ‘Destruction Urge’: Physical damage increased by [34%].]

…

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

“Ugh!”

*Thud.*

As Su-ho’s sword beheaded the last demon, his level also reached exactly 20.

Then—

*Ding!*

[You have surpassed level 20. ‘Shop: Purchase’ is now available.]

“Hmm?”

Checking the message, Su-ho tilted his head in curiosity.

“There was a shop system too?”