Solo Leveling : Ragnarok - Chapter 46

[Skill: Giant’s Armor Lv.1]

Active Skill

Mana required: 10

Covers the entire body in a mana-infused armor, causing the user to grow in size.

While the skill is active, 1 mana is consumed per second.

The skill ‘Giant’s Armor,’ which Suho had acquired after defeating Kwak Duyoung, continuously drained mana just by being active.

Currently, Suho’s maximum mana was 635.

That meant he could only maintain the skill for 635 seconds.

Roughly 10 minutes, assuming he didn’t use any other skills.

Though his strength, size, and defense increased considerably, the biggest issue was that his hands also grew larger, making it impossible to wield his weapons.

As a result, Suho had to abandon his twin swords and fight barehanded.

“Strong Strike.”

Swoosh!

Suho raised his fist, and the **Ruler’s Authority** layered over it, covering it in dark energy.

He then slammed his fist into the body of the centipede that had coiled around him.

Boom!

“Grrrrrk!”

The massive shock caused the sand centipede to recoil, its long body writhing as it retreated into the sand.

It wasn’t a fatal blow, though. The creature quickly dug back into the sand and escaped.

The problem was that this one strike had halved Suho’s mana, leaving him with only half the time left to maintain Giant’s Armor.

‘If I keep fighting like this, I won’t even make enough to cover the cost of my potions.’

Suho quickly made up his mind.

Time to flee.

“Cancel Giant’s Armor.”

Shwoooosh.

The mana-infused armor vanished, and Suho’s body returned to its original size.

He immediately jumped onto Aracne’s back and extended a hand to Esil.

“What are you waiting for? Let’s get out of here.”

“…”

Esil had a lot she wanted to say, but she grabbed his hand without hesitation.

* * *

[Screeeeeee!]

With Suho and Esil on her back, Aracne’s eight legs flew across the desert sands.

Shick, shick, shick, shick, shick!

Chasing closely behind were seven massive sand centipedes.

The speed difference between them was minimal.

It was a tense, breathless chase where the centipedes were almost close enough to grab them but not quite.

“We’re going to get caught!”

Turning around on Aracne’s back, Esil glared at the centipedes that were closing in on them.

She didn’t hesitate to throw her spear at the nearest one.

Swoooosh—

The sand centipede twisted its body to avoid the attack.

Though the brief pause created some distance between them, Esil’s spear was now lost far away.

“What about your weapon?”

“This is how it works! Come back!”

At Suho’s question, Esil raised her hand and shouted.

Her spear boomeranged back through the air and returned to her hand.

Esil spun the spear confidently and looked at Suho with a smirk.

“This spear is made from my horn. No matter where it is, it will always return to me.”

“Your horn?”

“The horn of a demon. Some demons use their own horns as weapons. The Radir family is no exception.”

“Perfect.”

“What?”

Esil flinched as Suho’s eyes gleamed at her.

“This time, I’ll create an opening. You time your strike.”

Suho grinned and drew his twin swords while standing on Aracne’s back.

[Skill: Storm Slash activated.]

Whoooosh!

His twin swords swirled, whipping up a violent sandstorm.

The goal was to obscure the centipedes’ vision.

The plan worked, and the centipedes’ faces were covered in a thick cloud of sand.

“Now!”

“Got it!”

At Suho’s shout, Esil threw her spear, infused with magic, at the centipedes.

Swoooosh—Boom!

The spear pierced through the sandstorm and struck one of the centipedes, causing a small explosion on its body.

“Kieeeeeeeek!”

The centipede shrieked, writhing in pain before burrowing back into the sand to hide.

“They always run when they’re at a disadvantage!”

Esil clenched her fists in frustration as her spear returned to her hand.

At that moment—

[Young Lord.]

Beru, who had been absent for a while, reappeared in front of Suho.

[Let’s head in that direction.]

Suho followed Beru’s gaze.

There, in the distance…

“A pyramid?”

Suho’s eyes widened.

Caught up in the chase with the sand centipedes, he hadn’t noticed it earlier, but there, far away, stood a massive pyramid.

Suho muttered in disbelief.

“Could this place… actually be Earth?”

[It seems to be a field connected to Earth.]

To think the gate was linked to Earth…

It was an unexpected twist.

Now that he was paying attention, Suho could see a faint blue mist swirling amidst the sandstorm.

‘Actually, I guess it’s not that strange.’

Just like how gates on Earth led to dungeons, it wasn’t impossible for a gate from the shadow world to connect to Earth.

Without hesitation, Suho directed Aracne toward the pyramid.

As they neared the structure, still fending off the sand centipedes, something unexpected happened.

Shick, shick, shick…

“Huh?”

The centipedes abruptly stopped their pursuit.

“They’re not chasing us anymore! We’re safe!”

Esil cheered in relief.

[Ahem.]

Beru stood proudly on Esil’s head, looking rather pleased with himself.

Suho, however, observed the centipedes carefully, tilting his head in confusion.

The creatures hovered near the pyramid but didn’t dare approach it.

“Are they afraid of the pyramid? Why?”

Turning his gaze back to the pyramid, Suho saw something else—around the pyramid was a small village.

‘So, this is Earth after all.’

Suho’s eyes gleamed with recognition.

The village had a distinctly modern look, with old ruins surrounding the pyramid bearing modern signs and advertisements.

“Who’s there?”

Startled, the village guards rushed forward to meet Suho’s group.

“How did you get here?”

“Did you cross the Red Desert?”

“…What are they saying?”

Suho looked confused.

A language barrier.

The guards, all Egyptians, were speaking in Arabic.

“They’re asking how we managed to avoid the sand centipedes and get here.”

“Hmm?”

Surprisingly, Esil understood Arabic and translated for him.

[Demons can communicate with humans by reading their thoughts, not their language.]

It was curious how Esil, a demon, was able to speak Korean in the first place.

‘Well, this makes things easier.’

Suho and Esil dismounted from Aracne and engaged in conversation with the guards.

Well, it was less a conversation and more of a series of questions and answers as they passed through the checkpoint.

“Are you hunters?”

Yes.

“What’s your purpose here?”

None.

We were just fleeing from the centipedes and ended up here by chance.

“How long will you stay? We have a shortage of food.”

We’ll rest briefly and leave soon.

‘Hmm.’

As Esil translated the guards’ questions, Suho noticed something peculiar about their attitude.

‘They seem interested in Aracne.’

Aracne, the massive spider Suho had ridden in on, was an intimidating creature.

Surprisingly, though, the guards seemed to view her quite favorably.

“Who summoned this spider?”

“Is the spider used for transportation?”

“Impressive that you thought to cross the Red Desert on a spider.”

“Could others ride on your spider as well?”

“Most hunters come here by helicopter.”

Helicopter?

That caught Suho’s attention. He glanced around, confused.

What reason could there be for people to come to such a dangerous place surrounded by giant sand centipedes, even by helicopter?

What could their purpose be?

As Suho surveyed the area, he saw nothing but sand, with the pyramid standing alone in the distance.

“Is it because of the pyramid?”

The guards seemed curious as well, staring at Suho and Esil with interest.

“You really have no idea why you’re here, do you?”

“…?”

Suho felt like an idiot.

* * *

The Desert City of Kamura.

This small town had once thrived on tourism, with visitors coming from all over to see the pyramid.

But a month ago…

The entire desert became a field-type dungeon, plunging Kamura into chaos.

Tourists and residents alike turned into Mist Burns and began attacking people, while those who awakened as hunters fought back.

Countless lives were lost in the process.

Those who survived escaped the field by helicopter, as the massive sand centipedes left no other means of escape.

However, something strange happened.

Hunters from outside began arriving in the town via helicopter, one by one.

Their goal was clear.

The pyramid.

For some reason, as soon as they arrived in the city, the hunters immediately began exploring the pyramid.

They had their reasons.

“It all started with a strange prophecy made by a fortune-teller about a month ago.”

“A prophecy?”

Suho tilted his head in confusion as Esil translated the guards’ words.

Esil, looking somewhat awkward, explained the content of the prophecy.

“Soon, a life born from death will awaken from its seal.”

[Hoho?]

Beru’s eyes gleamed with interest at the prophecy.

“…And that power will raise the dead.”

At that moment, Suho and Beru exchanged glances.

To most people, the prophecy might have sounded vague and absurd.

But to them, it was eerily direct.

[Young Lord, this prophecy…]

“Is it about me?”

A life born from death?

It sounded like it was referring directly to Suho, the son of **Sung Jinwoo**, the Shadow Monarch.

Not to mention, the part about raising the dead was a clear allusion to Suho’s shadow extraction skill.

Apparently, others had interpreted the prophecy differently.

Esil continued explaining.

“And right around the time the prophecy was made, a dungeon break occurred inside the pyramid.”

What timing.

Phrases like “life born from death” could be found in mythologies from many cultures.

Of course, Egypt was no exception.

Pyramids and Pharaohs.

In history, many rulers had sought immortality.

But the Pharaohs of Egypt took it a step further, desiring not only eternal life but dominion over the afterlife, which is why they built such massive pyramids with the labor of countless slaves.

“With the timing of the prophecy and the dungeon break, hunters have been flocking here ever since.”

Suho nodded, understanding the situation.

Pyramids were mysterious structures that had intrigued people for centuries.

For those unfamiliar with the powers of the Shadow Monarch, the prophecy might have seemed like a promise of eternal life.

Given the wide variety of skills that had been discovered in runestones from dungeons, it wasn’t a stretch to think something like that could exist.

“And it turns out, they’ve already found something significant inside.”

“What is it?”

“Hmm. Hold on a second.”

Esil turned to the guard she had been talking to and stared at him.

The guard blushed slightly and shrugged.

“He says he’ll tell us, but there’s a condition.”

“A condition?”

Before Suho could ask what the condition was, Esil had already grabbed the guard by the collar and lifted him off the ground.

“You dare try to make a deal with me?”

Esil reverted to her haughty demon noble demeanor, glaring down at the guard.

The man turned pale and stammered in fear.

“T-The hunters found a single inscription deep inside the pyramid!”

“An inscription? What did it say?”

“…‘Let there be light for the challenger’s path.’”

It was an inscription that had never existed in Egyptian history.