Solo Leveling : Ragnarok - Chapter 68

“You really… are someone I can’t let my guard down around,” Arsha said, letting out a dry laugh.

“I didn’t expect you to see through things this far.”

However, there wasn’t a trace of amusement in her gaze as she glared at Suho.

*Weeeeeeeeng—*

The swarm of bees that made up Arsha’s face kept scattering and reforming repeatedly, betraying the turmoil she was experiencing.

Suho chuckled.

“Looks like I got it right.”

“This conversation should end here.”

Watching Arsha suddenly rise to her feet, Suho teased, “Suddenly? Got something urgent?”

“Of course. I need to start collecting the offerings Lee Minseong killed and look for a new hive to move into.”

“Where are you moving? Have you found a place yet?”

“Wherever it is, you won’t be able to find me.”

“That’s a shame. I was thinking of coming over to see your new place.”

“That won’t be possible.”

Their playful back-and-forth continued without either yielding an inch.

With a radiant smile, Arsha looked back at Suho and said, “While we were chatting, this entire underground area has filled with my poison.”

“Poison?”

“Yes. It’s a colorless, odorless, deadly poison that even the successor of the Fang Monarch wouldn’t have noticed.”

The reason Arsha had indulged Suho with conversation all this time—

It was to buy enough time for her poison to seep deep into his body completely.

Her smile grew increasingly cruel as she stared at Suho.

“Once you enter the queen bee’s lair, you leave as either a worker bee or food. There’s no other option. Now, I must take my leave…”

[Hehehe.]

“…Huh?”

But something felt strange.

[Kehehehek.]

On the table, the tiny ant Beru clutched his stomach, laughing hysterically.

This time, the laughter was filled with mockery far deeper than before.

In contrast, Suho wasn’t laughing at all.

He stood up from his chair just as calmly as when he first arrived and casually spoke to Arsha, now standing beside her.

“Perfect timing. I was just about to go see Lee Minseong. Shall we go together?”

“H-How?!”

Arsha, who had been so confident in her poison, leaped away from Suho as if she had been burned.

She couldn’t sense even the slightest trace of poison in Suho.

Of course, Suho was indeed being poisoned at that very moment.

However—

[Harmful substance detected.]
[Commencing detoxification with the effect of ‘Blessing: Longevity and Good Health.’]
[Detoxification complete.]
[Detoxification complete.]
[Detoxification complete.]

…

Detoxification messages flooded Suho’s vision without pause.

“Impossible! How are you withstanding my poison? This kind of power…!”

Arsha’s eyes widened in horror as she stared at Suho.

“Did you really get your hands on yet another of Lady Querehsha’s relics?”

Arsha had been observing the knights’ battle through her swarm of bees.

Just as the knights had acted strangely toward the end, she had considered the possibility that Suho had obtained another relic.

But it was only a possibility—after all, the odds of a mere human acquiring the relics of a great monarch were extremely slim.

Now, however, she was certain.

There was no other way to explain how he could withstand her poison unless he had inherited the relics left behind by the Plague Monarch.

“You’re already the successor of the Fang Monarch… Why are you aiming to take Lady Querehsha’s place as well?”

[…]

“…”

Seeing Arsha’s expression filled with certainty, both Beru and Suho gave her pitying looks.

At this point, even denying it would have felt cruel.

[The Beast King, Fang Monarch, clutches his belly, laughing hysterically.]

“Let’s go, Beru,” Suho said, turning his back on Arsha without another word.

He had heard everything he needed to, and there was no reason to stay any longer.

“Answer me before you leave!”

Suho paused.

At Arsha’s demand, he glanced back at her, his eyes gleaming sharply.

“I’ll give you that answer the next time I meet your true form.”

And next time, it won’t end as peacefully as today.

Even without saying it, the message was clear enough.

Suho began ascending the stairs toward the surface.

Watching his retreating figure, Arsha bit her lip in frustration.

How dare he show his back to her so carelessly?

It was a clear sign of confidence.

‘He took my worker bees and even rendered my poison useless? At this rate…’

The thought gnawed at her.

‘He seems more like the queen bee than I do.’

‘I have no choice. I need to speed up the ritual.’

A sudden sense of dread swept over Arsha—the fear that either Lee Minseong or Sung Suho might steal the successor’s position from her.

In that instant, her form shattered into countless bees.

*Weeeeeeeeng—*

Moments later, the citizens in Times Square witnessed a cloud of bees dispersing like smoke, flying off to an unknown destination.

—

[You’re just going to leave that fool of a queen bee behind?]

“She’s not even in her true form. Why waste energy here? Lee Minseong is the bigger problem right now.”

To Suho’s eyes, Arsha’s beautiful form had merely been a swarm of writhing bees.

Killing a few of those bees wouldn’t have provided much experience, and it didn’t seem like doing so would inconvenience Arsha much either.

[True. And since she lost all her painstakingly gathered knights, she’ll probably lay low for a while. A queen bee’s fate is to remain hidden in her hive for most of her life…]

“Dispel Possession.”

To conserve mana, Suho dispelled his possession state.

[‘Possession’ has been dispelled.]

*Swish.*

The divine wind swirling around Suho’s body gradually subsided, and his hair, which had been fluttering in silver, returned to its original black color.

Until a moment ago, Suho had maintained his possession state to deal with the queen bee, but now he needed to conserve mana before searching for Lee Minseong.

“Grrr…”

[‘Pet: Gray’ has exited the priest’s body.]

“You head back in.”

“Grr…?”

Suho dismissed Gray, who had separated from him, back into the Shadow Dungeon.

*Step.*

It was then.

“Hunter Sung Suho! You’re safe!”

As Suho reached the first floor, he ran into the White Tiger Guild members who were about to descend into the basement.

Baek Miho, leading the group, quickly checked Suho’s condition.

Then, she tilted her head in confusion.

‘They said his hair turned silver, but it’s black now? Did he deactivate the skill?’

Baek Miho felt a twinge of disappointment. She had hoped to confirm with her own eyes whether Suho possessed a real beastification skill.

Although she could ask directly, there were more pressing matters at hand.

First of all, Suho was the only one in the toxic mist without a gas mask.

‘He gave gas masks to his teammates and then disappeared? Could it be that he gave away his own mask too?’

Unable to overlook what she saw as a misguided sense of sacrifice, Baek Miho spoke up.

“Quickly, give him a gas mask.”

“Yes, Vice President!”

A guild member pulled a mask from their bag and attempted to place it on Suho’s face, but Suho politely declined and continued on his way.

“No need. I have something urgent to attend to and need to leave right away.”

“We’re also evacuating the other hunters and… Wait, more importantly, what happened down there?”

Baek Miho followed closely beside Suho, peppering him with questions as he headed toward the exit of Times Square.

“And according to the others, you saved them… how exactly?”

“This isn’t the time for idle chat,” Suho said, cutting her off with a serious expression.

“We need to find Lee Minseong and stop him immediately.”

“What? All of a sudden? Stop him from what…?”

At that moment—

“Vice President! We just got a call from HQ!”

A White Tiger Guild member holding a phone urgently called out to Baek Miho.

“Lee Minseong… he’s committing a massacre in the streets right now!”

“…!”

“…!”

Both Suho and Baek Miho’s heads whipped toward the source of the message in unison.

*Snap!*

Without hesitation, the two of them sprinted toward the labyrinth’s exit.

“Wait for us, Vice President!”

The startled guild members scrambled to chase after them but found something odd.

“Wasn’t he supposed to be a C-rank?”

“How is he that fast?!”

To their surprise, Suho was running almost as fast as Baek Miho, an A-rank hunter.

The shock hit Baek Miho even harder since she was running right beside him.

‘What? His profile said he was a summoner?’

Of course, she hadn’t activated her beastification skill yet, nor could she sprint at full speed in the labyrinth’s winding corridors.

But even with those factors, Suho’s speed was far beyond what a C-rank summoner should be capable of.

Meanwhile, Suho was having similar thoughts about Baek Miho.

‘She’s fast. As expected of an A-rank.’

Then, he suddenly recalled that the person they were pursuing, Lee Minseong, was also an A-rank hunter.

Given how Arsha was reluctant to let him go, it was clear that Lee Minseong was on a completely different level compared to the knights made from lower-rank hunters.

‘If that guy makes a serious run for it, he could be quite troublesome.’

And now, Lee Minseong even had wings.

Ah, an idea came to mind.

“Baek Miho.”

“Yes?!”

Startled by Suho’s sudden call, Baek Miho turned her gaze toward him.

“How long do you think it would take to sprint to Lee Minseong’s location from here?”

“By running?”

“Unless you’re planning to drive? The streets are probably jammed right now.”

“Ah.”

Ever since the Great Cataclysm, Seoul had been plagued with severe traffic congestion.

Several major subway stations were now blocked due to the gates that had opened within them, disrupting the train lines.

In emergencies like this, running was often the fastest option.

Baek Miho, catching on to Suho’s intent, made a quick calculation and responded confidently.

“If we run at full speed, we can make it in 20 minutes! What about you?”

Her eyes gleamed with competitiveness. Though they were running side by side for now, she was certain that with beastification, she could run far faster.

“Oh, as expected of an A-rank.”

*Thumbs up.*

Suho gave her a genuine look of admiration, flashing her a double thumbs-up.

Then, with a completely innocent expression, he made a proposal.

“I’ll probably be much slower than that, so… how about you carry me?”

“…What?”

Baek Miho stared at him in disbelief, wondering if she had just heard him wrong.