Solo Leveling: Ragnarok - Chapter 13

 Chapter 13

Meanwhile…

Right after Suho acquired the sword of the Monarch, he continued to hunt wolves and move forward in order to clear the way out of the dungeon.
Since the raiders were wiped out, there was only one hunter who could fight.
Suho kept swinging his sword while protecting those who were carefully following him.

He leveled-up again.
“Hey… Aren’t you tired?”
“Yeah. I think I’m still fine.”
“Wow.“
The miners were amazed beyond admiration at Suho’s ability to wield the sword without rest.
In the eyes of those who did not know that strength is restored when you level up, Suho was seen as a huge monster with infinite power.
‘I mean, how couldn’t he be. He’s just a human like us.’
’Don’t tell me he also has great mental fortitude?’
’Tsk. It’s clear that he’s not showing any signs of distress because he’s afraid we’ll worry.’
They remembered that Suho was a young hero who had rescued people until he fainted in this very art museum just a few days ago.
But this time, they are in a situation where they are being protected.
‘How can the same E-Class hunter be so different?’
‘Even how fast he levels up.’
There was really no other way to explain this other than that his mental strength and will were great, regardless of his class or ability.
Well, of course he’s also leveling up.
[Young Master, I can see the gate.]
Beru pointed at the far end of the cave.
“W-Were saved!”
The miners, who were filled with tension and fear, were finally relieved.
Watching them run away, Suho also wiped away his sweat.
“Aren’t you going out?”
One of them turned around and called for Suho.
“Ah, no. I will stay here and bring out any remaining hunters, if there are any.”
“Are you okay? You must already be at your limit…”
“I can still hold out.”
In fact, he was in a very good condition, but he had no choice but to pretend to be overdoing it due to the current situation.
[…]
He could feel Beru’s gaze from behind, but Suho pretended otherwise.

* * * 

Suho, who remained in the dungeon, looked at the sword and asked.
“Take me to where you were.”
-…
Suho pretended to pass the sword to Beru.
“Beru, would you like to just eat this?”
[Khmmm.]
-For a moment.
The voice answered urgently. It was because from earlier on, he kept seeing Beru picking up nearby mana stones and chewing them.
-Why do you want to go where I was?
“If there are any survivors, I will try to save them.”
-I killed them all… No, there might be someone who is still lucky enough to survive.
When Suho handed the sword back to Beru, the voice was quick to change its words.
– Go left.
Suho moved along with the guidance of the voice.
In the process, monsters continued to attack, but now there was no need to protect people, so there were no restrictions on his actions.
After a while.
Unidentified remains of people bleeding and dying appeared in front of Suho.
“Here you are.”
Suho checked people one by one.
[They are all dead.]
-What did I say… I couldn’t help it either. I have a mission to protect this sanctuary. Besides, since I’m such a good one…
Feeling the gaze of Suho and Beru, the voice made an excuse.
At that time, information about this sword appeared in front of Suho’s eyes.

Compared to the goblin’s stone axe, it was a sword with considerably higher attack power.
It could also be that the hunters here were killed abruptly due to panic as they did not expect that their colleague’s body was possessed.
[It’s a pretty good sword, but with such a petty skill. It exerts more power when dealing with those weaker than of their own level.]
– You’re being mean! What’s wrong with the strong preying on the weak! What kind of hunter in the world would go after a prey stronger than himself?!
Suho listened to the conversation between the two and collected the bodies of the hunters one by one.
He removed all the monster goods in the carts that the dead collectors were pulling, and put the bodies in it.
Surprisingly, Suho saw black smoke rising from the corpses.
Those… were their shadows.

Aaaaaaa-!
Suho heard the grievous cries of the dead hunters.
[If you wish, these people can also be recruited as your soldiers, Young Master.]
“It’s okay.“
Suho listened to their screams and silently collected the corpses.
After things settled down, Beru looked around the area then went to Suho.
[I’ve been looking around to see if there are other relics of the Fang Monarch besides this sword, but nothing special.]
“Fang Monarch?”
Suho asked.
Beru then pulled out black shadows from his hands and created small shadow puppets the size of fingernails.
The dolls stretched one by one and took on a certain shape.
[At some point in time, there used to be several other monarchs in this universe besides the shadow monarch Sung Jinwoo— your father. The beast monarch, fang monarch, insect monarch, plague monarch. All those monarchs flocked to Earth.]
Among them, one doll the size of a fingernail exudes a particularly strong energy, mercilessly cutting down the other dolls.
[The shadow monarch killed them all.]
– Keugh. He dared to do that to my master…
After that, ‘Rakan’s Sword’ trembled in Suho’s hand.
– I’m angry. If only my strength had been in perfect form, I would have torn all of you to pieces and thrown away as food for the wolves. No, if I had known that you were the offspring of the Shadow Monarch. I should have been vigilant from the start.
“What do you mean?”
Suho looked at the sword.
“You mean you’re not in your best shape now?”
-Of course. I am the strongest weapon created by Rakan, the king of beasts, with his own fangs.
[Your attack power is only 30 to say it’s the strongest though?]
Beru laughed.
-That’s why I said it’s not perfect! My mission was to protect this sanctuary. In this sanctuary, I was able to exert almost equal strength as Rakan. But…
“But?“
-In the end, I couldn’t protect it. A deity that loses its sanctuary loses its power.
The ghost muttered in a somber tone.
[That is an expected result.]
Beru said.
The world that has lost its master, the ’monarch’, is torn to pieces and wanders through the dimensional rifts.
Remnants of war.
That was the dungeon.
[As the apostles of Outer Gods cracked the dimensional wall to invade Earth, it became connected to the dungeons.]
Beru’s eyes shimmered.
[Those defeated soldiers who held a grudge against this world were the ones who were killed by the Shadow Monarch. Of course, it was those guys who attacked first.]
“After all, this is the remains of a defeated world, and there is nothing we can do about it.”
[Don’t worry, Young Master. Please leave it to me.]
Beru looked at the sword greedily.
[Even a dried squid squeezes water out. I will try to tear it apart somehow.]
-Hmm. Even if you try to threaten me, you won’t get anything.
Rakan’s sword responded firmly.
10 minutes later.
Rakan’s Sword spilled everything he knew.

* * * 

A few days later.
[Young Master, what’s bothering you?]
Beru asked Suho.
[Is it because you rejected their offer?]
After coming out of the dungeon at Korea University, many things happened to Suho.
He met the Hunters Association after they received reports from miners.
When the hunters entered the dungeon, there were only monster corpses that died at the hands of Suho.
Because of this, Suho received recruitment calls from various guilds.
All of those were offers to sign contracts as collectors or porters.
“No. It’s not like that.”
Suho had no intention of accepting any offer.
Unlike other hunters, Suho improves through the level up system.
If he was an ordinary E-Class hunter, he would have accepted an offer from a large guild even if it was a porter contract, but it was an offer that Suho could not feel the slightest attraction to.
“I was thinking of the things Rakan’s Sword told me.”
Rakan’s Sword said that the sanctuary he guarded was torn into several pieces and scattered through the dimensional rift.
As a result, his power has greatly weakened.
Even when he took Kim Yongjun’s body and he was able to command all the wolves around him, even that ability disappeared the moment he came out of the sanctuary.
It still wasn’t very successful.
In the dimensional rifts, there were more sanctuaries like this dungeon, and in them, relics like Rakan’s Sword were kept.
The ghost in the Rakan’s Sword, who gave in to Beru’s persuasion (?), eventually blew one of the sanctuary’s locations.
The problem was that they had to enter the dungeon as quickly as possible.
Rakan’s Sword said that it was impossible to guarantee that the artifacts would still be preserved intact.
Even at this very moment, it must be wandering aimlessly through the dimensional rift, gradually weakening.
“But, of all places…”
[It’s because it was a dungeon occupied by another guild.]
“That’s right. And that, of course, is the infamous Hyena Guild.”
The Hyena Guild was famous as a guild formed by former gangsters.
In the era of hunters, awakeners emerged among gangsters. And the guild they created was notorious for not hiding its nature and choosing only dirty activities.
[It could be dangerous if you get into trouble with other hunters because you’re weak, Young Master]
Beru agonized.
On that of that, the Beast Monarch’s power scattered over Earth wasn’t such a good thing.
It was clear that most humans would fall prey as soon as the practice of the law of the jungle, which is common in the world of the Beast Monarch, was applied to Earth.
However, that did not mean that Suho, who was still at a low level, should take a risk.
[Young Master, you need to level up and build up your strength first… Hmm? What are you doing?]
Suho was packing his luggage.
“Ah, preparing to enter the dungeon?”
[What about the Hyena Guild?]
“I can just sneak in.”