Solo Leveling : Ragnarok - Chapter 48

“Where do you think you’re going?!”

Randolph wasn’t about to let Suho slip away unnoticed.

With a murderous voice, he commanded his subordinates to chase after Suho.

“Raaagh!”

Boom boom boom…!

At his command, the Scavenger guild members charged toward Suho like a stampeding herd of rhinos.

[Those fools dare?]

Beru’s eyes burned with fury.

In contrast, Suho calmly watched them approach.

‘So it really is all tanks, huh?’

He had noticed that all the Scavenger hunters guarding the entrance were tanks, and it seemed the ones here were no different.

Typically, a raid team would be composed of a balanced number of damage dealers, tanks, and healers.

However, that wasn’t always necessary.

If the tanks, like now, possessed enough attack power to also serve as damage dealers, then there was no issue.

But…

When balance is lost, weaknesses inevitably become exposed.

“Rise.”

[Kkroaaak!]

Saaahhh.

A massive shadow spider emerged from Suho’s shadow.

It began to move according to Suho’s will.

Shhhh!

Black spiderwebs spread throughout the narrow labyrinth.

Sticky!

“What the—?!”

The Scavenger guild members, who had been charging in with full momentum, suddenly found their feet and clothes stuck to the webs, slowing them down.

At that moment, Suho and Esil sprang into action.

Shwack!

“A summoner? So, he’s just some punk who relies on petty tricks!”

Randolph sneered and gathered his magic power.

The Scavenger Guild, which revered strength above all else, naturally looked down on summoners.

‘Summoners are the kind of people who hide behind their summoned creatures and scurry around like cowards!’

In the end, they figured they could just ignore the summoned creatures and kill the summoner behind them.

Rip!

With his overwhelming strength, Randolph tore the spiderwebs apart.

However, Arachne’s webs were a skill formed from magic.

She could simply create more.

And those webs had an especially troublesome trait attached to them.

[Arachne has used the skill: Puppet Marionette.]

“What the—?!”

One of the Scavenger guild members, who had been leading the charge and tearing through the webs, suddenly swung his muscular arm and knocked out the comrade next to him.

Thud!

“Ow! You crazy bastard!”

The guild member, now bleeding from his nose, shouted in rage.

But then, his own leg bent at an odd angle.

“What the—?”

He tripped another guild member passing by, sending him tumbling to the ground.

Crash, thud!

“What are you doing?!”

The Scavenger guild members, who had been charging confidently, suddenly found themselves falling all over each other.

Randolph’s face turned bright red in fury at the chaotic sight.

“How dare you!”

Boom!

When he stomped in anger, the ground cracked as if from an earthquake.

It was one thing to be overpowered by sheer strength, but to be humiliated by these petty tricks?

“Get your heads together! Catch that bastard, now!”

“Y-yes, sir!”

The Scavenger guild members snapped back to their senses at Randolph’s thunderous roar.

This time, they cautiously began to surround Suho.

“Did you forget about me?”

Suddenly, Esil, who had circled around to their side, thrust her spear toward them.

Swoooosh— BOOM!

“Gah!”

In this confined space, it was difficult to avoid a spear flying in a straight line.

Esil’s spear exploded with magic power.

Even those who barely dodged it were caught in the explosion as the wall behind them crumbled and fell on the Scavenger guild members.

“Hehe.”

The spear quickly returned to Esil’s hand, and she prepared to throw it again, continuing to press them.

Meanwhile, Suho…

‘I’m going for the leader.’

Pow!

Randolph’s brow twitched as he saw Suho charging straight at him.

“Heh. You think you can take me on? Do I look that easy to you?”

Randolph sneered, a twisted smile forming on his lips, as he readied to meet Suho head-on with a surge of energy.

Boom!

Randolph’s attack, loaded with immense magical power, shot toward Suho.

But then…

‘Ruler’s Authority!’

Suho leaped into the air, stepping on the void as if performing aerial acrobatics, and landed behind Randolph.

“Huh?”

“Well then, we’ll be on our way.”

Suho grinned and casually raised his hand toward Randolph.

The smile on Suho’s face made Randolph’s eyes blaze with anger.

“You dare—who do you think you are?!”

‘Looks like taunting works well on him.’

A glint appeared in Suho’s eyes.

His heightened senses had already identified Randolph as an A-rank hunter.

Someone far stronger than Suho could currently handle.

But if his personality matched his brutish appearance, there were countless ways to deal with him.

‘First, let’s annoy him.’

Using Ruler’s Authority, Suho lifted a brick that had fallen nearby.

And then—smack!—it hit the back of Randolph’s head.

“…That little bastard.”

There was no way a mere brick could damage Randolph, but the effect was undeniable.

“I’ll kill him myself.”

Ignoring his subordinates, Randolph charged straight at Suho.

Even as Randolph’s terrifying energy surged toward him, Suho only grinned.

‘Now!’

[Arachne has used the skill: Puppet Marionette.]

At that moment—

BOOM!

“…What?”

The ceiling above them exploded.

And through the hole, a massive centipede appeared.

“Screeee!”

“Huh?!”

“W-what the hell?!”

Everyone in the area was thrown into a panic.

[Poison Fang Sand Centipede]

The grotesque and horrifying creature, which should have been out in the red desert, had suddenly barged into the labyrinth!

“Why the hell is that thing here?!”

“Wasn’t this area supposed to be safe from them?!”

Suddenly, everyone’s gaze turned toward Suho.

After all, he was a summoner.

And a summoner who could control creatures like spiders.

“C-could it be…?”

But now wasn’t the time to ponder such things.

“Screeee!”

“Run! Get out of here!”

The hunters screamed in terror as the sand centipede, desperate to enter the labyrinth, screeched and caused chaos.

In the midst of the confusion, Esil approached Suho.

“Suho, did you do that?”

“What are you waiting for? Aren’t you going to run?”

“…”

* * *

Meanwhile, chaos had erupted in the village.

The sand centipedes had suddenly begun attacking the village.

“Have these things gone mad?!”

What everyone had feared had finally come to pass.

The sand centipedes, which had been lurking around the village for so long, were now invading.

But their target wasn’t the hunters or the village itself.

“They’re heading for the pyramid!”

“Clear the way!”

“They’re not after us!”

The quick-witted hunters immediately stepped aside, giving the centipedes a clear path.

After all, these were not creatures they could fight.

The centipedes quickly swarmed the pyramid and began gnawing at the stone walls to break their way inside.

“What the hell is going on…?”

The hunters were left speechless by the bizarre sight.

“Looks like there really is something inside that pyramid.”

“Yeah, but…”

“The hunters inside the pyramid are as good as dead.”

The hunters, who had been unable to even step foot in the pyramid because of the Scavenger Guild, found a certain satisfaction in the situation.

At the same time, a plan began to form in their minds.

‘Let’s wait and see.’

Once the situation was resolved and the Scavenger Guild members were all dead, they’d go in themselves.

The hunters of Kamura exchanged knowing glances.

* * *

The sudden appearance of the sand centipedes had thrown everything into disarray.

Suho and Esil retreated in the opposite direction of the Scavenger Guild.

Along the way, they encountered some familiar faces.

The Asura Guild.

“Hm?”

“Huh?”

Suho and Ryo Singh crossed paths at a fork in the labyrinth.

Ryo Singh spoke first.

“I am Ryo Singh of the Asura Guild. What guild do you belong to?”

“What’s he saying?”

Suho looked at Esil, his interpreter.

Esil sighed lightly and responded on Suho’s behalf.

“We’re unaffiliated. We’re from Korea.”

“Korea? I see. Given the situation, would you consider joining forces with us for now?”

Ryo Singh studied Suho intently, trying to gauge his strength.

‘He hasn’t revealed his affiliation, but he must be a promising figure from a renowned guild.’

Ryo Singh had witnessed Suho in action against Randolph.

Suho’s quick decision-making and combat instincts were certainly on par with his own.

Suho saw no reason to refuse Ryo Singh’s offer.

With the sand centipedes on the loose, it wasn’t the time for humans to be fighting each other.

“Sure, let’s do that.”

Suho nodded, and Ryo Singh breathed a sigh of relief.

‘This is perfect. I have so many questions.’

Suho began conversing with him through Esil’s translation.

“What exactly happened in here?”

As they continued to move, avoiding the sand centipedes, Ryo Singh explained.

“This pyramid requires us to prove our worthiness.”

“Worthiness?”

Suho and Beru’s eyes gleamed at the mention of the word “worthiness.”

‘Huh.’

Ryo Singh noticed Suho’s intrigued expression and marveled silently.

Most people would respond to a challenge of proving their worth with fear for their lives.

Which was natural, of course.

Two years ago, after the sudden “Great Cataclysm,” countless scientists had questioned the phenomenon, yet none had managed to reveal its true nature.

The unknown breeds fear.

But Suho’s reaction was far from typical.

‘Is he… smiling? This young man genuinely seems to enjoy the challenges ahead. He has the natural qualities of an Asura.’

Of course, this was entirely Ryo Singh’s misconception.

“Isn’t this like that thing?” Suho asked.

[It seems similar, indeed.]

What came to their minds was, naturally, the trial of worthiness they had faced in the **Magok Field**. The test of proving the “king’s worth” had also been held there.

‘If this is another trial…’

There was only one way to prove their worth.

To go deeper.

But the problem was the ones standing in the way.

‘We’ll have to deal with the Scavenger Guild first before we can move forward.’

Suho’s eyes remained fixed on the path where the Scavenger Guild members had fled, chased by the sand centipedes.

That path likely led to the deepest part of the labyrinth.

They would surely continue to explore in an attempt to prove their worth there.

“Suho, what’s the plan?”

Esil, sensing Suho’s intentions, asked.

“It won’t be easy for just the two of us to take them all on.”

“Hmm.”

Suho agreed with her.

Even with Arachne, handling all of the Scavenger Guild members would be difficult.

‘I’ll need more soldiers to increase our chances of success…’

But those soldiers would need to be at least as strong as Arachne.

“Kiiiiiieeeek!”

“Oh, I know just the thing.”

Suho’s eyes sparkled as the screeches of the sand centipedes echoed from afar.

If they were out in an open desert, it would be impossible, but in this confined space, Suho thought it might be possible to deal with them one by one.