Solo Leveling- Ragnarok-Chapter 166 -

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Dragon's Nest.

This expression would be appropriate.

In the place where the dragon soldiers were guarding, eggs the size of people were gathered in one place.

I didn't have time to count them individually as I was trying to block the mercenary soldiers that were coming in, but at first glance, there were more than a few hundred.

"Did the mercenaries move it?"

"I think so. "There is no way the dragons would have gathered here and laid eggs during the war."

It was as he said.

Given the circumstances, it seemed like the mercenary soldiers here had gathered eggs that were hidden somewhere in one place.

I don't know where these eggs were originally, but maybe they thought it would be easier to protect them this way?

'Or it's the instinct of mercenary soldiers.'

Then, a strange question suddenly occurred to Sirka.

"But why did your husband leave these behind?"

"Leave it behind?"

"No, that's right. "The Shadow Lord is famous for automatically transferring enemies into his shadow army when they are killed."

"ah!"

Cha Hae-in also realized something from Sirka's words.

The souls of countless dead dragons here had already become shadow soldiers and served Seong Jin-woo as king.

Is there any reason for them to keep the existence of these eggs a secret from Seong Jin-woo?

Even though the eggs were hidden in a secret place before the dragons served Seong Jin-woo, their location was now bound to be in Seong Jin-woo's ears.

In other words, as Sirka said, the conclusion is that Seong Jin-woo deliberately left these eggs behind even though he knew they were here.

'Why?'

Eventually, Cha Hae-in was able to understand the reason.

"...ah."

The moment I inadvertently touched a nearby dragon egg.

Damn. Passyek-

"...!"

Surprisingly, the surface of the egg, which seemed as hard as a stone, began to disperse like dust as soon as I touched it.

"W-what is it?"

Cha Hae-in and Sirka's eyes widened.

Surprisingly, the inside of the egg was empty.

"It's empty, right?"

Seeing this, Sirka was also excited and hurriedly touched the other eggs nearby one by one.

Passyuk.

Pasasasak-

The eggs turned to ashes and scattered into the air so vainly that I wondered how they had maintained their shape until now.

It's like a gray snowstorm that fills the tombs of these wild dragons.

"These are hollow too!"

"What happened?"

"Maybe your husband knew they were already dead and didn't care?"

Sirka's guess was quite reasonable.

But Cha Hae-in's expression was still serious.

"Sirka, is it normal for a dragon's egg to be empty like this when it dies without hatching?"

"Well, well? I'm fine up to that point... ...."

Sirka, an ice elf, did not have much knowledge about the ecology of the dragon race.

However, one more plausible guess came to mind.

"Maybe it was an egg that was almost ready to be born? So your husband took all the souls of these eggs... ..."What if it was taken away as a shadow soldier?"

"Even if that were the case, wouldn't there have been a body left in the egg?"

"That's right."

Cha Hae-in was silent for a moment at Sirka's sighing affirmation.

Regardless of common knowledge about whether eggs are unfertilized or fertilized, it was doubtful no matter how many times I looked at the fact that the eggs, which seemed fine on the outside, were actually empty.

Moreover, why are these eggs being guarded by mercenaries?

"..."For now, let's check everything."

Cha Hae-in and Sirka began to touch all the remaining eggs in earnest.

However, there was nothing unusual, and the eggs inside the nest began to scatter and disappear one by one.

In the meantime, Cha Hae-in's gaze was coolly observing the behavior of the mercenary soldiers.

'The numbers haven't decreased at all. 'Aren't these eggs the owners of the mercenary soldiers?'

It would be hard to say that there was no connection, but as the number of eggs decreased, the ferocious spirit of the dragon soldiers became more and more brutal.

'Or is there a separate owner? Or, there are still live eggs left among them.'

While carefully coming up with various hypotheses in his mind, Cha Hae-in continued to reduce the number of eggs.

And finally.

"This...."

I found it.

"Isn't this a little small?"

Cha Hae-in's eyes sparkled as he discovered a small egg the size of an ostrich egg that was hidden among the human-sized eggs.

The egg had a mana scent that was distinctly different from other hollow crystals.

And when Cha Hae-in suddenly picked up the egg in his hand, he felt a fairly heavy weight.

It did not turn into powder and scatter like other eggs.

And the moment the egg was held in Cha Hae-in's hands.

Wow!

The brutality of the dragon soldiers became extremely intense.

"Chacha! These guys are in a weird state! First, evacuate to a safe place... ...uh?"

[purr.]

It was then.

The shadow drake Kaisel, who had been sleeping quietly until now, opened his eyes.

[Kyaaa-]

Kaisel spread his wings wide and yawned, as if stretching on Cha Hae-in's shoulder.

Then, he took the real dragon egg that was in Cha Hae-in's hand into his arms, wrapped it in a coil, and hugged it carefully.

As if it were his own egg.

OK...

"ah?"

The spirit of the mercenary soldiers, who were overflowing with brutal murder, died down in an instant.

Cha Hae-in and Sirka looked around with puzzled expressions at the sudden change.

Quick and easy!

The mercenary soldiers who had rushed in as if they were going to make a life-or-death decision surrounded Cha Hae-in and Sirka and began to kneel down on one knee and bow their heads.

No, not exactly....

[purr.]

Toward Kaisel, the shadow drake who cherishes the egg.

Looking at that scene, Cha Hae-in and Sirka muttered with bewildered expressions.

"I guess..."I think I won?"

"Chacha, are you praying for this too?"

"Okay, tell it to Suho."

I think I've found a dragon egg that is still alive, possibly the only one in this universe.

* * *

Coo coo coo coo coo!

Meanwhile.

[Solord! A whirlpool of sand surrounded the entire coast!]

As Berr reported, Haeundae was hit by an untimely natural disaster.

The whirlpool that started on the sandy beach did not simply suck people down, but turned into a sandstorm above and swept all around.

Like a barrier.

'It's similar to the Harmacan era, but much more explicit.'

Harmakan, a fellow demon race, had surrounded the entire village with a barrier called an 'instance dungeon'.

It was a barrier so clever that people who stepped into it did not even notice that they had fallen into it.

However, I don't know if the demon race that appeared this time was a difference in style or clumsiness, but they blatantly created a barrier and trapped people in a sandstorm.

"Seong Su-ho!"

Just then, a voice calls out for Suho from behind.

Lim Tae-gyu, leader of the Shinigami guild and S-class hunter, was running fiercely through the sandstorm.

"Slide to the side!"

He attached a magical arrow to the Shinigami's bow and aimed it at the center of the sand swamp.

Quaoooooo!

Powerful magic arrows grazed Suho's body and flew toward the center of the barrier.

Kukwakwaang-!

That moment.

The arrow that penetrated the sandy swamp exploded.

[Wow! How dare a human being-!]

Suddenly a scream echoes all around.

Along with that, the angry voices of the Demon Spirit tribe were heard.

"It was there as expected!"

Lim Tae-gyu's eyes sparkled like an eagle that had caught its prey, and magic arrows rained down again.

Phew!

Kikekekekeke!

At that time, numerous skeletons appeared through the sandstorm and attacked Lim Tae-gyu from all directions.

Lim Tae-gyu snorted as if it was laughable and hit the skeletons that came to interfere with him with the Reaper's bow.

Kwajangchang!

The Reaper's Bow, an S-class weapon, was harder than most clubs, and the skeletons were shattered with an exciting noise.

"Is it just this much?"

[No way.]

"...!"

Creepy.

Im Tae-gyu hurriedly became alert to his surroundings when he heard a gloomy voice whispering right behind him.

[For a human, he is quite strong.]

Of all the hunters here, the eerie voice was only ringing in the ears of Lim Tae-gyu.

[but...No matter how much magical power we have, humans are just a weak race.]

'He' said to Lim Tae-gyu with a chuckle.

[The human soul is of inferior quality.]

Hahaha!

"...!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the scenery that caught Lim Tae-gyu's eyes changed in an instant.

[The demonic illusionist Jarvier uses 'Skill: Mirage.']

'mirage?'

Thanks to the system message that appeared right in front of him, Suho realized two pieces of information.

The culprit behind this situation is Jarvier, an illusionist from the Demon Spirit tribe.

And mirage.

[Solord! Be careful of illusions... ...!]

Ber's urgent voice faded away, and the scenery before Suho's eyes also began to change.

* * *

Jarvier, an illusionist of the demon race.

He never doubted his victory.

He had no choice but to do so.

He conducted various experiments using the souls of humans collected on this beach, and as a result, he came to one conclusion.

'Humans are weak.'

The demon race was born as a race that enjoyed conducting various studies with souls.

To them, souls were experimental materials with infinite potential, and by using them, they could create really interesting magic.

It might be terrible for some people.

mirage.

A powerful illusion that brings out the most terrifying or intense moment in the target's memory.

Through the illusion, Xavier was able to enjoy the various fears hidden in the lowly inner world of humans.

'What a fun race this is.'

Because humans were fundamentally weak, the fear they felt was much more fundamental and raw than that of other races.

'Other races have at best the fear of death.'

But look at the humans gathered in front of us!

How many different fears are being expressed?

'for example....'

Just like that one.

-...honey.

"Wow, that's ridiculous...."

Lim Tae-gyu, who had the most magical power among the hunters who fell into illusion, was in the greatest despair.

This is because the image of his 'dead wife', or rather, 'the wife he killed with his own hands' appeared before his eyes.

And the wife's body... ...It was slowly burning, surrounded by blue smoke.

Her wife slowly approached Lim Tae-gyu with extremely sad eyes.

-Why are you looking like that? It was you who killed me.

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry...."

'Hehehe.'

What a joy it is to watch a soul struggling in despair!

Xavier, an illusionist from the Demon Spirit tribe, was feeling the utmost pleasure while appreciating Lim Tae-gyu's despair and fear. freewebn(o)vel.com

[Khaha! Absolute terror that cannot be resisted! How beautiful this is!]

Regardless of whether it is S-class or not, the soul is just an insignificant human soul.

Her own illusions were on a different level from simple illusions.

It was able to bring into reality the intense memories engraved deep in the subject's soul, while also demonstrating physical strength.

[S-class hunter, don't struggle and just accept death. In fact, I wasn't just hoping for this moment... ....]

Creepy.

Xavier was giggling and mocking Tae-gyu Lim, and then she quickly turned her gaze somewhere else.

And she couldn't help but believe her eyes.

[W-what is that...!]

The young hunter who caused a snowstorm out of nowhere earlier.

He too was looking at the fantasy that was deeply engraved in her memory from afar.

however....

Something was strange.

Shwaaaagh!

[What on earth is that?!]

Xavier couldn't believe her eyes.

mirage.

A powerful spell that brings out powerful memories engraved deep in the soul.

By her illusion that Xavier boasted about,

A being in her guardian's memories was slowly revealing itself.

Surrounded by black energy like the abyss.