Solo Leveling : Ragnarok - Chapter 55

[Skill: **Heavy Strike** Lv. 1]
Active Skill
Mana Requirement: 300

Enhances the user’s physical attack power by infusing the body with the power of the Ruler’s Authority.

→

[Skill: **Kangche-sul** Lv. 1]
Active Skill
Mana Requirement: 600

Strengthens the user’s body by infusing it with the power of the Ruler’s Authority. Both the attack power and defense of the enhanced area are amplified.

“Oh.”

The skill had evolved.

Suho looked at his arm, now enveloped in a dark aura, and moved it around, eyes gleaming with interest.

Originally, **Heavy Strike** only boosted attack power.

Now, with double the mana cost, not only did it enhance attack power, but it also provided an overall physical enhancement.

‘And this is only level 1. If I keep doing this training every day, the skill level will keep rising, right?’

Suho imagined that as the level increased, the area covered by the black armor might also expand.

And eventually…

He glanced at Ammit, who had dominated the entire space earlier when he had taken spirit form.

“Khuhuhu. Yes, you’re right.”

Ammit noticed the meaning behind Suho’s gaze and grinned.

“When you master **Kangche-sul**, you’ll become as powerful as I am. With just the pure strength of your body, you’ll be the strongest—without the need for any other skills. Now! Show me that strength! Hit me with everything you’ve got!”

Ammit spread his arms wide, inviting Suho to strike, leaving Suho looking puzzled.

“Hit you? You want me to really punch you?”

“Yes! Exchanging blows at full power is how we Crocor greet each other! Now, show me your full strength!”

A rather barbaric greeting.

But judging by Ammit’s tough, crocodilian skin, Suho figured he could go all out.

“Alright then. Here I come.”

Suho firmly raised his arm and struck straight at the center of Ammit’s body.

*BOOM!*

A massive shockwave tore through the area from the impact.

However, Ammit only staggered back one step.

“Khuh! That’s a fine punch.”

Black blood poured from Ammit’s mouth as he grinned.

“With a punch like that, I’ll enjoy teaching you. You’ve passed the test!”

“Passed?”

“Yes. I mean you’re officially my disciple now. No need for any more challengers.”

With a stomp of his foot.

*Boom!*

The ground trembled, and from beneath his feet, a massive magic circle spread out in all directions.

*Flash!*

[My Lord!]

As the magic circle covered the entire pyramid, Beru and Esil hurriedly flew to Suho’s side to shield him.

[It’s a magic array!]

“The walls of the dimension are warping!”

Esil, who had experienced crossing the dimensional boundary before, immediately recognized the sensation.

“Calm down. I have no intention of harming you.”

Ammit smirked, savoring their panicked reactions. His eyes then clouded with nostalgia as he muttered, remembering the past.

“A long time ago, Kandiaru came to me and promised that he would help me research **Kangche-sul** to my heart’s content. He said he would continuously supply challengers for me to train.”

But then.

Ammit’s grin twisted, revealing his sharp teeth.

“Kehkeh. That devious shaman. There never were any ‘challengers.’ It was all a trick.”

He had realized it.

This entire system.

His research on **Kangche-sul**.

It had all been set up solely for this one human in front of him.

Ammit stood at the center of the magic circle, the pyramid shaking as if it would collapse, his gaze locked onto Suho. He grinned slyly.

“I knew from the moment I saw you that you were the descendant of the **Shadow Monarch’s** bloodline. Keh! That conniving shaman! He had me train the son of the one who killed my first disciple, Tarnarok.”

But.

What did it matter now?

What Ammit was looking at wasn’t Suho’s appearance.

He saw the radiant soul inside him.

‘…Kandiaru must have known that once I saw such a soul before me, I wouldn’t be able to resist.’

Fine. You’ve won.

‘I’ll play along.’

Even after realizing the shaman’s cunning scheme, Ammit had no choice but to go along with it.

He was simply too curious.

The **Kangche-sul** that had turned the lowly goblin, Tarnarok, into the King of the Entities.

What would happen if he taught this ultimate power to a human with such a great soul?

Just how far could he surpass all limits?!

‘Kehkeh. Just the thought of it excites me!’

Ammit chuckled and began to chant the incantation that Kandiaru had taught him.

“May light shine upon the challenger’s path!”

At that moment.

The space trembled, and a system message appeared in front of Suho.

*Ding!*

[‘Ammit, the Crocodile Who Eats Death,’ wishes to join as an NPC.]
[Do you accept?] (Y/N)

Suho’s eyes gleamed as he read the message.

‘NPC?’

It was a term well-known to anyone familiar with games.

The system had always referred to Suho as a “Player.”

Meanwhile, an NPC (Non-Player Character) was a character that wasn’t a player, often serving as a helper for quests in a game.

[My…my lord?]

Suho looked at Beru, who blinked in confusion, clearly not understanding the situation.

Beru was a fighter, not the architect of the system.

‘This is the system my father left behind.’

Recalling his father’s personality, Suho looked at the message again.

[Do you accept?] (Y/N)

His father was asking for his consent.

It was not a command but a suggestion.

Suho could sense his father’s concern hidden within the offer.

If he accepted this crocodile as an NPC, he would have to endure more pain like today.

If it was too hard, he didn’t have to accept.

‘My mother always said I took after my father.’

If it were his father…

What would he choose?

The answer was obvious.

“Ammit.”

Suho accepted the offer with a grin.

“I’ll be counting on you from now on.”

At that moment.

Ammit’s fierce eyes narrowed into crescent moons.

“Yes, my disciple.”

*KABOOM!*

And then.

A massive earthquake shook the desert.

* * *

*Kugugugugu…!*

“W-What’s happening?!”

The members of the Asura Guild, who were still inside the labyrinth, looked at Ryo Singh in alarm.

“Ryo! Something feels ominous!”

“The pyramid is collapsing!”

“Did the Scavenger Guild destroy too many walls and make the foundations unstable?!”

Ryo Singh gritted his teeth.

It was the moment for a decision.

“We’re evacuating immediately! This pyramid won’t be our grave!”

“What about the prophecy?”

“The prophecy… This is just my guess, but maybe the ‘life born from death’ simply refers to the mummies in this place.”

“Oh, that might be true…!”

The guild members hastily nodded in agreement to Ryo Singh’s words.

Although the logic felt a little flimsy, escaping this perilous pyramid as quickly as possible was their top priority, so they decided to go with it.

But there was one concern.

“Ryo, are we really just going to leave like this? If we go back empty-handed, who knows what punishment we’ll face…”

“At least it’s better than dying. Besides, we didn’t leave completely empty-handed.”

Ryo Singh flashed a meaningful smile as he helped the injured.

“Today, we’ve made one enemy and one ally.”

The former was, of course, the **Scavenger Guild**.

“I’ll file a formal complaint against the Scavenger Guild when we return. After that, it’ll be a political fight between guilds, and it won’t be our problem anymore.”

That’s why guilds paid large sums of money to hire legal representatives.

Since every hunter in the area had witnessed Scavenger Guild’s atrocities, they would all take Asura Guild’s side.

Even the Scavenger Guild would struggle to ignore that kind of public opinion.

“If we had died here, things would’ve been different. But once we get out of here alive, we’ll have more than enough grounds to press charges against Scavenger under international hunter law. The guild leader won’t reprimand us once he sees that.”

But Ryo Singh wasn’t just aiming for that.

There was another bond made today.

Sung Suho.

“And do you think I gave that precious item to the Korean hunter for no reason?”

The Korean hunter, Sung Suho.

Judging by his extraordinary abilities, Suho was surely a member of a prominent guild back in Korea.

Moreover, Egypt was a country that was a 20-hour flight from Korea.

For such a remarkable hunter to come all the way here, returning empty-handed would be just as problematic for him.

“I considered that part too.”

“…Ah!”

It took a beat for the Asura guild members to realize what Ryo Singh’s words meant, and they widened their eyes in surprise.

Ryo Singh smirked and nodded.

“Yes, that’s right. Every favor comes with a price. Now, he owes our Asura Guild a favor. And we also share a common enemy in the Scavenger Guild.”

There was a perfect word to describe this kind of relationship.

“We’ve just become ‘friends.’ Huhu.”

With a sly smile, Ryo Singh’s eyes gleamed.

At that moment, the guild members recalled something important.

“Oh! Now that you mention it, the guild leader has been showing interest in Korea for some time!”

“That’s right. I took that into account too. The next time our guild goes to Korea, we’ll be able to rely on his support. After all, we’re friends now.”

No one knew why the Asura Guild’s leader was so interested in the small eastern country of Korea.

But even with interest, under international hunter law, it was difficult for guilds to cross national borders without any pretext.

Since hunter guilds were powerful military organizations in their own right, they required proper justification to operate in other countries.

With no direct ties to Korea, it was convenient to establish connections any way they could.

Ryo Singh’s words left the Asura hunters wide-eyed with amazement.

“My God. Ryo, how far ahead are you thinking?”

“This? It’s nothing. Huhu.”

Ryo Singh shrugged as if it was no big deal and helped the injured.

“Let’s leave our regrets behind and get out of here quickly.”

*Kugugugugu…!*

As they finally escaped the pyramid, a dreadful scene unfolded before their eyes.

“Kuh… What the…!”

The expressions of the Asura Guild members turned pale.

Right before their eyes, a horrifying sight was unfolding.

*Kugugugugu…!*

“No…way.”

“The pyramid…!”

“It’s sinking!”

A massive vortex of sand.

The red sands of the desert swirled like a whirlpool, pulling everything nearby into it.

At the center of the whirlpool, Kandiaru’s pyramid was sinking deep into the ground.

“Run!”

“If we get caught, we’ll be buried alive!”

Terrified, they sprinted at full speed.

When they finally reached the nearby town of **Kamura**, they turned around to look behind them.

“Phew.”

There was nothing left.

The gigantic pyramid had completely disappeared beneath the red sands.

Faced with this unmanageable natural disaster, all the hunters in Kamura were filled with fear.

‘Is he okay?’

Ryo Singh suddenly grew worried about Suho.

‘He must’ve gotten out, right?’

Surely he did.

After all, the pyramid wasn’t sinking too quickly. Even they had escaped unscathed, so a hunter of Suho’s caliber couldn’t have failed to escape.

But despite scouring the vast desert, there was no sign of Suho anywhere.

‘…Looks like I’ve found a reason to visit Korea.’

Even though Suho wasn’t visible now, he would surely return to his homeland if he had escaped safely.

Ryo Singh nodded firmly, his expression grim, and looked back at his subordinates.

“We’re returning to our home country.”