Solo Leveling : Ragnarok - Chapter 43

Ding!

[‘Skill: Wind of the Plains’ has been acquired.]

Shwaaack!

In an instant, Suho dashed through the hunters as if wings had sprouted on his back.

The fierce wind that followed his path spurred his movements.

[Movement speed temporarily increased by 30%.]

[Attack speed temporarily increased by 30%.]

Slash, slash, slash!

“Aaaah!”

Blood splattered in the gusting wind, and screams echoed from every corner.

[The Beast Monarch, Lord of Fangs, bares his teeth and chuckles.]

A battle of 50 against 1?

Numerical disadvantage?

What does that matter?

The darkness is on our side.

“Beru!”

[Yes, sir!]

At Suho’s call, Beru immediately sprang into action, slicing through the hovering fireballs with his short but sharp claws.

Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!

The fireballs exploded, plunging the surroundings back into darkness.

“Damn it! Light it up again!”

The hunters gritted their teeth and conjured more fireballs, but each time, Beru’s claws relentlessly extinguished them.

Whoosh! Pop!

Whoosh! Pop!

The lights flickered on and off without rest, and with each flicker, new screams erupted.

“Ack! My leg…!”

“He’s here!”

“Ugh…!”

Each time the light blinked out, Suho’s position changed in an instant.

And wherever he went, new injuries followed.

When the healers rushed in to save the wounded—

[Screech!]

Thwip!

“…?!”

A black spiderweb descended from above and snatched the healer away.

“W-Watch out for the spider…!”

And right at that moment, Aracne’s giant pincers slammed down mercilessly on the hunter standing nearby.

Boom!

“Gah…!”

Blood spewed from his mouth.

A horrifying death rattle.

It was like a scene straight out of a horror movie.

[Twelve.]

Beru’s antennae twitched non-stop as he counted the enemies he had taken down.

Numerical disadvantage?

What does that matter?

Humans die, regardless.

“Aaaargh!”

[Thirteen.]

No matter how strong they are, if their heart is pierced, they die.

“Gah!”

[Fourteen.]

If their head is severed, they die.

And if their defense skills are strong, just kill the others first.

If they retaliate with an attack skill, stab them in the back.

“Run! We have to get out of here!”

[Fifthteen.]

This was already Suho’s hunting ground.

A dizzying terror gnawed away at the minds of the Grim Reaper Guild members.

[The Beast Monarch, Lord of Fangs, swells with pride at the majesty of the priest.]

[The Beast Monarch, Lord of Fangs, advises caution with mana management as the ‘Possession’ state continues to consume energy.]

“……”

All the association’s hunters could do, while watching the carnage unfold from within the prison, was…

“Close your eyes.”

They tightly covered the eyes and ears of the kindergarten children they held.

‘What the hell…’

To the association hunters, Suho’s relentless slaughter of the enemies seemed utterly alien.

Even if these people deserved to die, there wasn’t a hint of mercy in his actions.

Hunters were accustomed to bloodshed. By nature, they were familiar with killing.

Being called a hunter was, after all, no different from being a butcher.

But still…

They were humans, weren’t they?

“Killing people without the slightest hesitation…”

“Who the hell is he…?”

“No. It’s probably because of the Beastification skill.”

Listening to his subordinates’ murmurs, Team Leader Han Jaehyuk spoke with certainty.

“Huh? You think it’s because of the Beastification?”

“Yeah. Beastification is an amazing skill that drastically boosts physical abilities, but it also maximizes wild instincts, making it hard to maintain rationality. That’s why incidents involving beastified hunters happen from time to time, right?”

“Ah…”

The association’s hunters nodded in agreement, finally understanding.

[No, you idiots.]

Beru, listening to their conversation from a distance, chuckled to himself.

[Our young lord has been familiar with death since he was an infant.]

Death, the primal fear of all living things.

But to Suho, who had been able to freely travel through the world of death since he was a baby, death was merely a natural phenomenon that was always close at hand.

After all, even the nannies who raised him as a baby were death soldiers.

Most importantly, Suho had experienced his own death countless times.

In order to fully control the power of the Shadow Monarch, Suho had undergone repeated tests that his father, Sung Jinwoo, had devised for him, forcing him to use his power in different situations.

Suho had experienced death repeatedly in his dreams until he no longer feared it.

No, he had gone beyond simply overcoming fear. He had reached a state where he used death as both an experience and a tool.

[Just like his lord.]

Beru muttered with a satisfied smile on his face.

* * *

‘What the hell is this?’

B-rank hunter Kwak Duyoung, who had arrived at the research facility later, couldn’t close his mouth as he witnessed the carnage inside.

‘Is this even possible?’

The intruder was just one guy.

His mana level barely registered as C-rank, maybe B-rank at best.

His skills weren’t anything special, either.

A speed-enhancing skill?

At most, that meant tanks could block him while the damage dealers focused their fire on him, right?

A giant summoned spider?

Unusual, yes, but no stronger than a C-rank beast.

Two raid teams from the Grim Reaper Guild should have been more than capable of handling him.

So why? Why the hell?

“How is it that so many people are getting annihilated by just one guy?!”

Kwak Duyoung finally joined the battle.

“Giant’s Armor!”

Boom!

Mana enveloped his body as he leapt high into the air.

Crash!

In an instant, Kwak Duyoung’s size and weight doubled.

His massive body, armored in mana, hit the ground with such force that the entire container building shook.

“K-Kwak Duyoung Hunter-nim?!”

The hunters fighting Suho cheered as they turned to see him.

Kwak Duyoung was one of the main tanks of the Grim Reaper Guild’s first raid team.

Though only a B-rank, he had managed to secure a spot in one of Korea’s top guilds thanks to his body-enlarging skill.

A massive figure, over 3 meters tall, covered in Aura Armor.

The sheer weight of his body translated into formidable combat power.

And when combined with his other skills…

No one doubted that Kwak Duyoung deserved his place as a first-string tank in the Grim Reaper Guild.

“Get out of my way, worms! Charge!”

Skill: Charge.

His entire body cloaked in Aura, he became a human battering ram.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

“Huh?!”

“Kwak Duyoung Hunter-nim! Wait…!”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

“Aaagh!”

“Get out of the way…!”

Kwak Duyoung charged forward like a rhinoceros, plowing through everything in his path.

The subordinates who were unlucky enough to get caught in his way were thrown aside, but he paid them no mind.

A few casualties were a small price to pay.

‘My target is…!’

Suho dodged Kwak Duyoung’s simple-minded charge with ease.

But Kwak Duyoung wasn’t aiming for Suho.

His real target was the prison behind Suho.

Crack!

“Got you!”

“……!”

His massive hand gripped the prison bars.

With a menacing smile, Kwak Duyoung shouted loudly enough for Suho to hear.

“You! Stop right there or I’ll crush these hostages along with the prison!”

Creeeak!

At his immense strength, the steel bars of the prison began to bend like soft candy.

“Ugh! Everyone, gather near me!”

Inside the prison, Team Leader Han Jaehyuk gathered the hostages and braced for impact, activating his strongest shield.

Seeing this, Kwak Duyoung sneered.

“Hah, you think you can withstand my strength? You’re just a C-rank tank!”

Creeeak!

“Grrk…!”

It was a contest of strength.

Han Jaehyuk, straining with everything he had to hold off Kwak Duyoung, had veins bulging in his eyes.

The gap between a C-rank tank and a B-rank tank was clear.

Although Han Jaehyuk was holding his ground, his knees trembled as though they might buckle at any moment.

But Suho remained calm.

“What are you two doing?”

He looked at them with an expression of disbelief.

Tanks always acted like this.

The stronger their defense, the more overconfident they became in their own durability.

And with Kwak Duyoung’s size doubled, his arrogance knew no bounds.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a gust of wind surged toward Kwak Duyoung.

Thunk!

“…Huh?!”

In an instant?

Kwak Duyoung was startled as someone grabbed his hair and pulled his head back.

There, perched on his shoulder, was Suho, grinning.

“You think you’re the only one who can grow? I’ve got a fist just about ready for you.”

Whoooosh!

With his left hand gripping Kwak Duyoung’s hair, Suho raised his right fist, now enveloped in dark energy.

[‘Skill: Strong Strike’ activated.]

“Take this.”

Suho smirked and slammed his massive fist straight down on Kwak Duyoung’s head.

Boom!

“Gaaah…!”

With a tremendous crash, Kwak Duyoung spat blood and crumpled to the ground like a toppled giant.

But Suho wasn’t about to let his guard down.

He knew better than to think that one punch would be enough to pierce the defenses of a B-rank tank.

Whoosh!

In an instant, twin blades appeared in Suho’s hands.

Without hesitation, he ruthlessly slashed at the defenseless back of the fallen Kwak Duyoung.

[‘Skill: Storm Slash’ activated.]

Boom, boom, boom!

“…!”

That was the finishing blow.

Kwak Duyoung’s eyes went blank, and his once swollen body began to shrink back to its normal size.

And with that…

Clang, clang, clang!

All the weapons held by the remaining villains in the building fell to the ground.

It seemed like they had lost the will to fight. The Grim Reaper Guild members raised their hands in surrender, their faces pale with fear.

“S-Surrender…!”

[Heh. Now, at this point?]

Beru knew all too well the risks of showing mercy to enemies like these.

Slash, slash, slash!

Beru’s claws tore through their Achilles tendons as he passed.

“Argh!”

“Aaagh!”

“We surrendered! Why…?!”

[True surrender is only in death.]

Beru chuckled wickedly as he mocked the pathetic sight of them writhing on the ground, clutching their ankles in agony.

[Or, thoroughly breaking them to the point they can never fight again.]

With an evil grin, Beru approached and cast ‘Heal’ on them personally.

It was a minimal, miserly use of healing magic.

Fwoooosh!

Beru “kindly” reattached their severed tendons—haphazardly, at best.

Very meticulously.

[Even if you find another healer, your legs will never fully recover. Well, unless you cut off your ankles and regenerate them.]

“…”

The Grim Reaper Guild members trembled as they watched the tiny, sinister figure laughing at them.

And then it happened.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

Several notifications appeared before Suho.

[‘Quest: Rescue the Hostages’ has been completed.]

[Number of hostages rescued: 10.]

[Your level has increased!]

[The level of ‘Skill: Dual Swordsmanship’ has increased!]

[The level of ‘Skill: Storm Slash’ has increased!]

[The quest reward has been delivered.]

[Would you like to check your reward?] (Y/N)

But just then, something caught Suho’s attention.

From the body of the dead Kwak Duyoung, a small, coin-sized light was flickering.

Suho’s eyes widened in surprise.

‘No way…?’

It was the same light he had seen leaking out of the beasts that carried magic stones within them.

And now, that same light was coming from Kwak Duyoung’s corpse.