Solo Leveling : Ragnarok - Chapter 66

“Are you the queen wasp?”

At Suho’s direct question, Arsha smiled brightly and nodded.

“Yes, I’m the queen wasp you were looking for.”

“What’s your connection to Querehsha?”

Arsha’s playful eyes flickered at Suho’s blunt inquiry.

“You seem well-acquainted with the monarchs. I suppose that’s fitting for the descendant of the Fang Monarch, isn’t it?”

“…”

“Oh my, what’s with that expression? You reek of beastly energy—did you really think I wouldn’t notice? I’m no fool, you know.”

“…?”

For a moment, Suho was left speechless by Arsha’s cryptic smile.

*Whoooosh.*

Just then, a sacred breeze swept through, ruffling Suho’s white hair.

[The Beast Monarch himself is currently possessing the body of his descendant, and he can’t stop laughing at the queen wasp’s nonsense.]

The true descendant of the Beast Monarch was right there, inside Suho’s body.

“It’s a little disappointing that you took away my worker wasps. Is this the famous ‘Tyranny of the Weak,’ the authority of the Fang Monarch? Gathering weaker beasts to serve you? Am I right?”

“….”

Not even close.

None of it was right.

Why did she keep talking with such conviction while spouting complete nonsense?

[The Beast Monarch can’t stop laughing, clutching his stomach.]

‘Enough already. She’s not a complete fool—she just lacks information.’

Suho felt embarrassed for no reason, even though he knew Arsha’s misconceptions weren’t his fault.

[It’s only natural that she’s confused.]

At that moment, Beru’s voice echoed directly into Suho’s mind, inaudible to Arsha.

[As I’ve mentioned before, for a monarch’s successor to exist, the monarch must first die. But with the Shadow Monarch still alive and reigning, no one would assume you are his heir… and they would be right.]

Suho silently agreed.

Though Beru always referred to him as the “young lord,” Suho wasn’t technically the Shadow Monarch’s successor—just his son.

The idea of a successor to the Shadow Monarch didn’t exist in the first place.

The monarch of death, Sung Jinwoo, could never die, so there would never be a need for an heir.

And the proof was right there in Suho’s status window.

—

**[Status Window]**
**Name:** Sung Suho
**Level:** 28
**Class:** None

—

If he were a true successor, the class section wouldn’t have remained empty.

There was more evidence.

The shadow soldiers standing behind him.

Since Suho wasn’t a monarch, he couldn’t command a true legion.

His shadow soldiers were temporary, disappearing after a day—they were nothing more than expendable workers.

But there was no need to explain any of this to Arsha.

If she was going to misinterpret things, Suho would let her do so—and take full advantage of it.

‘Let’s see how she plays this.’

Instead of clarifying anything, Suho asked another question.

“So, are you saying you’re Querehsha’s successor?”

“Hmm… That’s a tricky question. Technically, all insects are her successors. Querehsha was both one and many—the mother of all insects.”

“If you keep dodging the question, I’ll kill you.”

[In fact, it’s *you* who’s dodging questions, young lord…]

Suho chose to ignore Beru’s whispered jab.

“Oh my, how terrifying.”

As Suho’s presence grew more menacing, Arsha raised her hands in an exaggerated gesture of surrender.

Then, something astonishing happened.

*Bzzzzzt—*

In an instant, her hands dissolved into a swarm of bees, scattering through the air.

[How dare—!]

With a flash, Beru lashed out, catching some of the insects mid-air.

*Snap!*

A few bees fell lifelessly onto the table.

The remaining bees reassembled into Arsha’s hands, seamlessly reforming.

Beru’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

[That’s mimicry—something weak insects do to protect themselves.]

“Hehe. Struggling to survive is the nature of all insects, after all.”

“Where’s your real body?”

“Oh my. You don’t seem surprised.”

Suho remained composed—he had already suspected as much.

After all…

‘I never saw a name tag on her.’

From the beginning, what Suho saw weren’t just the name **Arsha**.

Instead, his eyes had registered the countless name tags of **Corrupted Wasps** swarming throughout her form.

“Yes, you’re right. My real body has already left. One of my worker wasps betrayed me, so I decided to move the hive.”

“Worker wasp? Don’t tell me…”

“Yes, the one making headlines lately—Vice-master Lee Minseong.”

Arsha sighed softly as she spoke.

Her gaze wandered to the shadow spearmen standing behind Suho.

“Did you know? Those spearmen were once human. When they approached me with impure intentions, I fed them royal jelly and turned them into worker wasps.”

“Royal jelly? What’s that?”

“It’s the queen wasp’s authority.”

Arsha had been born with a unique toxin in her body—royal jelly.

It was sweet like honey, but when ingested, it transformed the host into a loyal worker devoted only to the queen.

“The process isn’t simple, though.”

“Conditions?”

“Yes. Those who can’t withstand the toxicity die immediately. And even those with some resistance slowly rot away.”

Rot away… just like Koo Dongjae’s arm.

‘It’s a good thing I cut it off in time.’

It seemed not everyone could evolve into a worker just by consuming royal jelly.

Arsha had gone through many trials and errors at first.

“That’s why I opened a bar and started feeding royal jelly to different people. Over time, I figured it out.”

Those who willingly accepted the queen’s authority and abandoned their humanity shared one thing in common.

“Desire.”

Arsha’s eyes gleamed with malice.

“The more desire a person harbors, the easier it is for them to give up being human.”

“…”

All humans have desires, but they vary in intensity and nature.

Those who craved power the most—hunters.

“So, I targeted hunters who weren’t satisfied with their strength and desperately wanted more. It wasn’t hard. All I had to do was dangle bait, and they came flocking.”

Suho immediately understood what the bait was.

“Stardust…”

“Exactly. Those who used stardust were the perfect candidates for royal jelly. And I even had Vice-master Lee Minseong to supply it.”

Looking back, Minseong had been a useful asset to Arsha in many ways.

He had been helpful as a human, but his true potential lay in becoming a worker wasp.

After all, despite his A-rank power, he had been obsessed with reaching S-rank.

“So, I nurtured him carefully.”

Since a single mistake could cause his body to decay, she had slowly acclimated him to the royal jelly, like a vaccine.

“I must have overdone it, though. The vaccine was too strong, and he ended up running away.”

[He ran away?]

Beru was the first to react.

The idea of a worker wasp fleeing from its queen was inconceivable to an ant who served a great king.

“Yes. Though he became a worker, he rejected my control.”

Arsha sighed deeply, genuinely exasperated.

“Worse, he even started gathering his own army. A failed experiment, trying to imitate me.”

“…”

The word “army” sent a chill down Suho’s spine.

—

Meanwhile, outside Times Square…

Signs of unrest were spreading throughout the city.

“Ugh…”

A man staggered through the streets, clutching his throbbing head as if recovering from a drunken stupor.

“Why is he acting like that?”

“I don’t know. Is he a hunter? He’s wearing armor.”

“Let’s not get involved. Hunters can be dangerous.”

It wasn’t uncommon to see hunters losing control after suddenly awakening to higher ranks and coming into vast wealth.

Interacting with such individuals could be a matter of life and death.

As the civilians cautiously distanced themselves—

The staggering hunter suddenly turned toward them.

In that moment—

*Chill.*

“…!”

A decaying, corpse-like face came into view.

“M-Mon—”

Before they could finish, the hunter grinned eerily and lunged at them.

“Graaah—!”

“Ahhh!”

“It’s a monster—!”

Screams erupted throughout the streets as more of the twisted beings emerged from other alleyways.

There wasn’t just one of them.

—

The Hunter Association was thrown into chaos.

“Dozens of villains are attacking civilians indiscriminately! Deploy all nearby combat units immediately!”

Team Leader Han Jaehyuk, who had been tracking Lee Minseong, received the order.

“Damn it! Why are there so many villains lately?!”

He rushed to the scene with his team in tow.

“Graaaaah!”

The scene was pure chaos.

Corpses lay scattered across the ground, and monstrous figures—mutants—stomped over them without hesitation.

‘Wait… these aren’t villains.’

Han Jaehyuk’s instincts kicked in, and he broke out in a cold sweat.

Villains were awakened hunters who chose to commit crimes.

But the creatures before him—

‘These things aren’t human.’

Just like Mistborn, they were beings that had once been human but had transformed into monsters.

The association had recently coined a new term for these entities:

**Mutants.**

“Graaaagh!”

At that moment, the decaying mutants noticed the association hunters and charged toward them.

Han Jaehyuk quickly deployed his defensive skills and grabbed his radio.

“Reporting in! These aren’t villains; they’re mutants! Communication is impossible, and we are severely outmatched—”

“Argh!”

A nearby association hunter, trying to evacuate civilians, was struck down by one of the mutants.

The fallen hunter was instantly swarmed by the mutants.

“Why are they so strong?!”

Han Jaehyuk shouted in frustration as he charged forward, desperately trying to fend them off.

Then—

“Open fire!”

*Swish! Swish! Swish!*

A barrage of arrows rained down from the sky.

“Graaaagh!”

It was a breathtaking sight.

The arrows struck with precision, avoiding civilians and piercing only the mutants.

Han Jaehyuk turned to see who had fired.

The hunters of the infamous **Reaper Guild** stood there, bows drawn, ready to unleash another volley.

At the forefront was none other than Im Taegyu, his face twisted in anger.

“Where the hell is Lee Minseong?! And what the hell is this?!”

His gaze swept over the mutants, and he shouted in fury.

“Why are my guild members like this?!”

The mutants rampaging through the streets were none other than the kidnapped members of the Reaper Guild, now twisted beyond recognition by Lee Minseong’s experiments.