Solo Leveling : Ragnarok - Chapter 49

“Are you seriously thinking of hunting that centipede?”

Ryo Singh’s eyes widened in shock.

He had just seen Suho lick his lips after hearing the screeches of the sand centipede.

There was a clear predatory gleam in Suho’s eyes, the look of a hunter eying its prey.

“Suho, are you really going?”

“I think it might just be possible in here.”

A conversation between Esil and Suho.

Suho had already made up his mind.

“W-wait! Facing those centipedes is even more dangerous than fighting the Scavenger Guild!”

Ryo Singh hastily tried to stop Suho.

A hunter’s death always comes from recklessness.

He had seen many skilled hunters like Suho die senseless deaths due to overconfidence.

“How about this instead? If we rest for a few hours, our healers will recover their magic. Then, we can team up to deal with the Scavenger Guild together.”

“We don’t have time for that.”

Suho firmly rejected his proposal.

Then, he glanced up at the ceiling, where small pieces of debris were falling.

“We never know when the pyramid might collapse.”

Suho then made his own suggestion to the Asura Guild.

“Why don’t you guys get out of here? Leave this place to me.”

“I can’t do that. I can’t go back empty-handed either.”

Ryo Singh stood up to follow Suho, but winced in pain as he twisted his body.

“Ugh.”

The blow Randolph had dealt him earlier still left a heavy impact.

Watching this, Beru clicked his tongue in disdain.

[Weak. Recklessness kills hunters.]

Ryo Singh flushed with embarrassment.

Though he couldn’t understand Beru’s words, the condescending look in the insect’s eyes was clear enough.

Being looked down on by a mere summoned creature was a humiliating blow to someone like Ryo Singh, who had always been regarded as a promising figure.

“You guys stay here and rest. We’ll go on ahead.”

“How shameful.”

At Suho’s words, Ryo Singh finally sat back down with a sigh.

Though he had been stubborn, he realized that both he and his guild members were too injured to continue moving.

“Tch.”

Gritting his teeth, Ryo Singh thought of Randolph, the one responsible for all this.

‘I’ll get my revenge. Just you wait…!’

Burning with a desire for vengeance, Ryo Singh looked at Suho.

“Could I ask you a favor?”

“What is it?”

“If you happen to cross paths with the Scavenger Guild, could you give them a hard hit?”

“I could give them two.”

“That’s reassuring.”

Ryo Singh smiled in satisfaction at Suho’s confident response.

Then, he took out a ring from his pocket.

“Here, take this.”

“…?”

Suho’s eyes lit up as he accepted the ring.

[Item: Ring of Horus]

Acquisition Difficulty: B-rank

Type: Accessory

Intelligence Stat +10

-Effect ‘Wisdom of Horus’: Increases mana recovery speed by 30%.

“It’s an artifact I found while exploring this labyrinth. I hope it helps.”

Ryo Singh didn’t seem to realize just how valuable the item was.

‘This is exactly what I need.’

Suho had been feeling the strain of his mana while fighting the sand centipedes.

Up until now, he had poured all his stat points into strength, which had given him immense power, but recently, he had begun to feel the increasing importance of other skills and realized the need for intelligence stats.

And this Ring of Horus was an incredible treasure that boosted intelligence by a full 10 points.

‘On top of that, increasing my intelligence stat means I can summon more shadow soldiers.’

To defeat the sand centipede, overwhelming numbers were the key.

Suho needed to summon as many shadow soldiers as possible to have even a chance at victory, and this ring would increase those odds.

“Thanks. I’ll put it to good use.”

Without wasting any time, Suho slipped the ring onto his finger before Ryo Singh could change his mind.

‘Status window!’

He immediately checked his status window.

[Status Window]

Name: Sung Suho

Level: 26

Job: None

Title: Wolf Slayer

HP: 6,350/6,350

MP: 1,235/1,235

[Stats]

Strength: 54 Stamina: 35

Agility: 35 Intelligence: 35(+10)

Perception: 35(+5)

(Available stat points: 0)

‘Amazing.’

Suho’s eyes widened in surprise.

His mana, which had been at 635, had now shot up to 1,235.

It had doubled!

This meant the duration of Giant’s Armor had also doubled.

And…

[Extractable shadow soldiers: 1/20]

‘Now we’re talking.’

With a grin, Suho turned his gaze toward the direction where the sand centipede’s presence could be felt.

“Let’s head out.”

[I can sense the presence of other monsters along the way.]

Beru twitched his antennae and guided Suho.

Given that Suho needed to increase his army of soldiers, encountering more monsters along the way was only to his advantage.

Suho bid farewell to the Asura Guild and dove deeper into the labyrinth.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Scavenger Guild members, who had fled deeper into the labyrinth to escape the sand centipedes, were struggling in their own battle.

“Hold them off! More mummies are rising from the sarcophagi!”

Fitting for a pyramid, the monsters they faced took the form of mummies.

Initially, the Scavenger guild members had dismissed the slow-moving mummies as an insignificant threat.

But once they engaged, they realized the mummies were anything but easy opponents.

Boom!

“Randolph, sir! No matter how many we kill, they keep getting back up!”

“Then break their limbs so they can’t rise again!”

“B-but… Ugh!”

“…!”

Randolph was startled.

His subordinates, who had been fighting the mummies, were beginning to collapse, their faces turning pale.

“Poison?!”

Only now did Randolph notice that each time they struck the mummies, a rotten, toxic gas was leaking from the bandages.

‘What’s going on?’

Randolph had fought many monsters as a member of the Scavenger Guild, but he had never seen anything like this.

‘Monsters that endlessly resurrect? Usually, such creatures are controlled by a summoner. But where’s the summoner?’

He had been searching for a summoner, but he couldn’t find any trace of one.

“Find the summoner! There must be someone controlling these things nearby!”

Randolph’s voice was filled with urgency.

Swish swish swish swish!

The sound of the approaching sand centipede echoed behind them, while the mummies had them surrounded up ahead.

“Healers! Have you recovered your mana yet?!”

“I-I’m sorry! Just a little longer….”

“Useless fools!”

Boom!

Randolph angrily kicked a charging mummy in the stomach, sending it flying.

The healers turned even paler at the sight.

But no matter how much Randolph raged, their depleted mana wouldn’t recover any faster.

“Forget it! Everyone, ignore the mummies and charge forward!”

“Randolph, sir! But what about the poison?”

“Just hold your breath and run, you idiots!”

Boom!

With a powerful charge, Randolph sent the mummies flying like bowling pins.

“Don’t waste any more time on these weaklings! Just run!”

After all, the sand centipede would take care of the mummies following behind them.

And if the mummies, weakened by their own poison, also killed the centipede, all the better.

In the end, spurred on by Randolph’s desperate orders, the Scavenger guild members gritted their teeth and charged out of the mummies’ encirclement.

* * *

[Decayed Mummy]

[Decayed Mummy]

Suho and Esil were also surrounded by a large number of mummies as they ventured into the labyrinth.

Esil, who was fending off the mummies with her spear, quickly realized something was wrong.

“Suho! These things don’t have any weaknesses! No matter how many we kill, they won’t die!”

[That’s because they’re already dead.]

Beru, who was floating lazily in the air, watching the battle, commented nonchalantly.

“And they’re poisonous too!”

[That’s because they’re decayed corpses.]

For some reason, Beru’s explanation, given in such a laid-back manner, only made him more annoying.

Beru continued to flit around the mummies, his expression filled with genuine interest.

[Young Lord, these are not ordinary monsters.]

“What are they then?”

[They were artificially created by some sort of sorcery.]

“Sorcery?”

At the mention of sorcery, a name came to mind.

The High Shaman, Kandiaru.

[There aren’t many who could create monsters like this. Soldiers that don’t die… It’s almost as if they’re imitating shadow soldiers, don’t you think?]

Beru rubbed his chin thoughtfully, recalling the architect of the leveling-up system.

[Kandiaru was a high shaman who dreamed of immortality. This place may have been his laboratory. But it seems he failed, only managing to create these half-baked creatures.]

Suho nodded at Beru’s explanation as he observed the mummies.

[Shadow extraction is possible.]

[Shadow extraction is possible.]

[Shadow extraction is possible.]

…

From the moment he had encountered the mummies, these messages had been appearing before his eyes.

That’s right.

These beings had existed as the dead from the start.

And the power of the Shadow Monarch was to rule over death and control the deceased.

With a grin, Suho extended his hand toward the mummies charging at him.

“Rise.”

In that moment, shadows began to writhe beneath the feet of the mummies.

The black shadows crawled up and engulfed the mummies’ white bandages, turning them pitch black.

Swooooosh!

[Shadow extraction successful.]

[Shadow extraction successful.]

[Shadow extraction successful.]

…

The mummies, now clad in black bandages, had new labels above their heads.

[Shadow Mummy Lv.1]

Common Rank

“Heh.”

Esil’s face momentarily showed a look of disbelief at the sight.

The battle she had been fighting so hard suddenly seemed meaningless.

This was simply a matter of affinity.

“Rise.”

Suho calmly walked through the oncoming mummies, extending his hand.

[Shadow extraction successful.]

“Rise.”

[Shadow extraction successful.]

[Kyaaah!]

The black-clad mummies let out cries of reverence toward Suho, who had granted them true death.

As their numbers grew, their cries began to resemble a grand choir.

Watching this astonishing scene, Beru smirked wickedly.

[Lives born from death… I quite like that prophecy.]