Solo Leveling: Ragnarok - Chapter 72

Chapter 72

When monarchs die, they fall into eternal rest.
That empty world was a vacuum space where nothing could exist except the soul of the dead monarch.
However, there were things that even Suho, who was brought into such a world, could do.
First, skills.

[Use ‘Skill: Spiritual Body Manifestation‘.]
Swoosh!
Black aura wrapped around Suho‘s arm.
Querehsha could recognize that skill.
[No way! Isn‘t that the power of the Iron Body Monarch!]
She was astonished.
Spiritual Body Manifestation.
The skill of the great mentor Ammut, who had made a weak and insignificant goblin reborn into Iron Body Monarch, could be felt in Suho.
Also…

[Use ‘Skill: Blessing‘.]
Swoosh!
A divine wind moved around Suho‘s whole body.

[Use ‘Skill: Grassland Wind‘.]
Swish!
Suho‘s hair fluttered in a silver light, and the explosive force of the beast burst out.
[T-This can‘t be…! The Fang Monarch‘s…?!]
Even if it was a world like that, or rather, because it was such a world like that, there was another being who could observe that place.
Chills!
[Who are you?!]
Querehsha asked the name of the certain monarch from the gaze she suddenly felt.
He was the King of Beasts who fought against the Shadow Monarch with her…

[The King of Beasts, the Fang Monarch, watches Querehsha.]

[Rakan! Why are you lending your power to the son of the Shadow Monarch?!]
Querehsha couldn‘t understand.
‘Why did Rakan lend his power to the son of the enemy who killed him?’
No matter how much she tried to deny it, it was the truth.
It was the energy of Rakan that dwelled in Suho‘s body.
Spiritual Body Manifestation.
Even if shadow soldiers could not be summoned in that world, Suho alone had the strength to deal with tens of thousands of bugs.
‘Come.‘
Suho plunged his black fist into the pure white tidal wave that was attacking him, rather, in the middle of the pure white insects.
Boom!
A huge explosion occurred in the center of that huge tidal wave.
The remnants scattered in all directions and attacked again, aiming for Suho‘s blind spot.

[Querehsha‘s Spiny Mantis]
[Querehsha‘s Explosive Insect]
[Querehsha‘s Venomous Spider]
[Querehsha‘s Venomous Moth]
…
Numerous types of poisonous insects attacked Suho.
However, Suho, who received Rakan‘s energy, narrowly avoided them with dazzling movements.
Another one.
Boom!
And another one.
Boom!
Every time Suho‘s attack exploded, hundreds of insects burst out.
Suho‘s attack crushed them.
Querehsha bit her lip with a look of resentment.
[Argh. You‘re struggling quite a bit. But even so, you are alone! And my bugs will poison you every time they die…!]
Ring.

[A harmful substance has been detected.]
[The detoxification begins with the effect of ‘Blessing: Great Spellcaster Kandiaru’s Protection.‘]
[3, 2, 1… Detoxification is complete.]
Querehsha was shocked to see Suho moving as if nothing had happened.
[How come you are fine?!]
Suho smiled at Querehsha.

[The King of Beasts, the Fang Monarch, laughs loudly, saying that bugs are weak.]

Translator: Anom

[Bastard-!]
Querehsha screamed in anger on the top of her lungs.
The picture she painted was not like that.
Now that the son of the Shadow Monarch had set foot in her realm, she wanted to harass him as much as she wanted.
Her plan was quite realistic enough.
Because in that world, no external power could be drawn.
Even the legions of the proud Shadow Monarch did not dare to set foot there.
Because that place was a tomb entirely for herself!
But what kind of shit is happening?!
[Argh! Still, there is plenty of time. You, too, will eventually get exhausted!]
‘Time…‘
At that, Suho glanced around and checked the quest window.

[Remaining time: 3 hours 41 minutes 17 seconds]
Querehsha was right.
There was still a long way before 4 hours passed, and it was impossible to keep fighting at such a pace.
‘Besides, I can‘t even take out my weapon here.‘
For some reason, the inventory didn‘t open there.
‘What about the shop window?‘
Ring.

[Potions and shops cannot be used at the current location, and the player’s condition does not recover even if level increases.]
As if answering Suho‘s thoughts, a system message arrived.
‘Still, my level goes up, right?‘
A small smile appeared on Suho‘s lips.
He wanted to know how much experience points he would receive for catching a few of those bugs, but when the number reached that scale, things changed.
‘Should I just use this opportunity to increase my level properly?‘
Suho‘s eyes flashed.
Since they were already dead bugs, no matter how many times he killed them, the message that they had been eliminated didn‘t appear.
But every time he killed them, their bodies turned to dust and disappeared.
Accordingly, if they continued to fight like that, their numbers would gradually decrease.
Boom!
As Suho continued to fight, he canceled the skills that he couldn’t use one by one.
Since he had no weapons, his blade storm and twin swordsmanship skills were ineffective, and he could not receive help from the shadow soldiers.
‘The skills that can be used are endurance, ruler‘s power, grassland wind, giant‘s armor, and martial arts.‘
However, most of them were skills with a short time limit that consumed mana in real time.
In the case of a long-term battle where he had to fight while conserving physical strength and mana like now, he needed to be a little more strategic.
‘It‘s fortunate that the blessing is possible, but since I have to conserve mana, I‘ll have to cancel this first.‘
If he released the strong spirit, his speed would be that much slower, so he wouldn‘t be able to completely avoid the insects‘ attacks, but it seemed like he could cover that much with the endurance skill.

[Cancel ‘Skill: Spirit‘.]
But the moment he canceled the Spirit skill.
[Hnnnng!]
‘Huh?‘
A gray dog ​​that had been nesting in Suho‘s body, no, a gray wolf cub came out from Suho‘s body.
That little one looked around with a puzzled expression.
[Hnnng?!]
Gray was startled at seeing the bugs attacking from all sides and hid behind Suho‘s legs.
However, when Suho saw him, a strange thing came to his mind.
‘Oh, wow.‘
‘Look at this.’

[Gray Lv.7]
Canine Wolf
Thanks to hard hunting in the Shadow Dungeon, Gray had also leveled up quite a bit.
‘Great. Let’s level up a bit.‘
[Hnnng.]
Gray, probably understanding Suho‘s words, hurriedly shook his head.
‘Ha. You, coward, seriously….‘
Suho made a strange expression.
However, Gray‘s senior (?), who was watching this place from afar, also clicked his tongue at the kid‘s foolishness.

[The King of Beasts, the Fang Monarch, asks you to train his descendants to be stronger.]

‘You sure?‘
Suho made a deal with Rakan with a provocative look.
Rakan snapped at the deal.

[The King of Beasts, the Fang Monarch, says he will give you a piece of advice instead.]

‘Advice?‘

[The King of Beasts, the Fang Monarch, advises to devour, rather than be a prey.]

‘Eat rather than be eaten? No way…‘
Suho‘s gaze stared at those disgusting insects that endlessly attacked.
‘Eat bugs?‘

[The King of Beasts, the Fang Monarch nods seriously.]

‘…‘
There was no way he would say anything outrageous under his identity as the King of Beasts.
Suho, who hesitated for a moment, smiled.
‘It‘s all white anyway, so it‘s less disgusting.‘
[W-Wait!]
Querehsha was taken aback by Suho‘s answer.
[You‘re not trying to follow that madman‘s words, are you?]
Seeing that reaction, Suho became more confident.
Suho picked up Gray, who was hiding behind him with one hand.
‘Gray, isn‘t it time for you to become an adult soon?‘
[Hnnngng?!]
Gray struggled with his legs.
Suho threw him into the middle of the bugs without hesitation.
[Hnnggg!]
Suho smiled widely at Gray, who was whining and trying to walk away.
‘This world is the weak meat.‘
That surely sounded better.
‘Gray. Be the one who eats rather than the one who gets eaten.‘
That‘s a true predator.
After all, he is the descendant of the King of Beasts.
Suho himself would train him as well.
Chomp!
He got poisonous insects in his mouth and bit them off.
Then, the poison bursting in Suho’s mouth filled it like gravy.
Suho chewed it all up and swallowed it all at once.
Gulp.
Ring.

[A harmful substance has been detected.]
[The detoxification begins with the effect of ‘Blessing: Great Spellcaster Kandiaru’s Protection.‘]
[3, 2, 1… Detoxification is complete.]
Suho smiled.
‘It‘s more edible than I thought.‘
[Y-You’re crazy!]
Querehsha was shocked.
Seeing that, Suho suddenly remembered what Querehsha had said.

-I am originally one and a colony.

If all these bugs are part of Querehsha, what would happen if he would eat them all?
‘I‘m curious.‘
Suho began biting, chewing, and swallowing the bugs that continued to attack him mercilessly.
[Stop! Stop eating!]
Each time, Querehsha was enraged and she screamed.
A huge hand made of insects came out of the air to grab Suho again.
Suho avoided the hand and bit another insect.
‘Calm down. There‘s still plenty of time.‘

[Remaining time: 3 hours 07 minutes 54 seconds]
‘Three hours is enough… for a mealtime.‘
[Growl!]
Thankfully Suho showed how it was done, so Gray was also eagerly catching and eating insects.
He glanced at Suho as if he was anxious that Suho would steal all of his food and eat it.
Seeing that, Suho became more motivated.
‘Great! Let‘s see who eats more!‘
[You are crazy!]
[Don‘t compete…!]
Queresha screamed and spurred on the attack.
However, no matter what she did, there was no way to stop Suho and Gray.
Just how much did they eat…
Rakan‘s advice was effective.
Ring!

[‘Title: Natural Enemy of Insects‘ has been acquired.]
‘Oh?‘
Suddenly, a system message appeared in Suho‘s eyes.

[Title: Natural Enemy of Insects]
A title given to a predator of insects. Increases all stats by 40% when facing bug-type monsters.
Somehow, something similar to the wolf slayer title arrived.
However, there was no need to visually check the effect of the title.
The moment Suho looked at Querehsha‘s bugs.

[The ‘Title: Natural Enemy of Insects‘ buff effect is activated.]
Swoosh!
The endlessly swarming bugs moved.
Instinctively, they realized that Suho was their natural enemy.
‘What‘s wrong?‘
Suho was suddenly curious.
‘Do bugs like you feel fear?‘
A cruel smile formed on Suho‘s lips.
Kiyaaaah!
A huge wave made up of bugs escaped Suho and scattered away.
Right then…
‘… Huh?‘
Whoa!
Mysterious light powder was sprinkled over Suho‘s head.
That was the ashes of insects that have died through his hands.
The remnants of their soul.

[The Queen of Insects, the Plague Monarch, is being extorted of its pontifex.]