Solo Leveling- Ragnarok-Chapter 318 - 316

The death of the Nightmare Apostle.

His plans, which he believed to be perfect, crumbled. But his passing, which transpired just like the vanishing of a fleeting dream, left behind a greater legacy than expected. Of course, it was all in Suho's favor. First, it started with the Sea of The Afterlife. At the beginning a gentle breeze was the only sign of change, but the effect wasn't insignificant. The atmosphere of death that permeated the Sea of The Afterlife had remained unchanged since the beginning of time. However as the cold wave that started from the World Tree gradually spread, the stagnant air began to move slowly. Of course, it wasn't a big change. Only the area close to the World Tree froze over. Considering the vast scale of the Sea of The Afterlife, it was just a slight change in temperature of the black seawater. But...

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"Good. It's getting colder. This is definitely the right direction." Esil smacked her lips and gave orders to the ships the demons were riding on.

At the same time, she calmly observed the surroundings. With the direction to the World Tree revealed, she realized something. As mentioned earlier, the Sea of The Afterlife was a stagnant space of death, a garbage dump where the scraps of souls drifted aimlessly. And at the same time, it was a sewer of dimensions, overgrown with weeds that lived by consuming those scraps. Considering the nature of those weeds, eventually all of them would inevitably migrate towards the World Tree... That was the result they were seeing now.

Slash! Slash!

"My King! The weeds are increasing in number!"

"Their attacks are endless!"

"Calm down. It's only natural." Esil, the King of Demons, the Monarch of Gluttony, wasn't fazed by the continuous reports. Even though the weeds increased exponentially, hindering the demons' fleet as it approached the World Tree.

Kyaaaaaaaaa—!

Even those, who had been bravely exploring the Sea of the Afterlife, were visibly flustered. The weeds' attacks, coming from all directions, were overwhelming and terrifying.

Slash—! Crack—! Crack, Crack—!

The situation became urgent. If they were careless for even a moment, the weeds would gnaw at the bottoms of the ships and pierce holes in them. Black seawater would seep through, along with it the weeds would extend their roots into the ship and attack the demons. If they weren't careful, the ship they worked so hard to build would be completely devoured by the black abyss in no time. However there were those who confronted the invaders.

[These damn weeds!]

[Alright! Let's see who wins!]

The shadow dwarves gritted their teeth and rushed to repair the ship with hammers and saws.

[Eat as much as you want!]

[We'll just repair it faster!]

[It's on! Let's see who's faster!]

[Our victory is certain as long as there are enough materials!]

A deadly competition started. A fierce contest between the speed at which the weeds damaged the ship and the speed at which the shadow dwarves repaired it. Black steam flared from their bodies as they burned with competitive spirit, determined to win the race. The action was extremely intense, but the result was already decided. The closer they got to the World Tree, the more weeds appeared. Although the rate at which the ship was damaged increased, the materials to expand it also became more abundant. As a result, the shadow dwarves weren't satisfied with just repairing and expanding the vessel in real-time... By a narrow margin, the growth rate was greater. Of course, the balance of this tug-of-war could still be broken if they were careless, but even that only fueled the dwarves' competitive spirit.

[Kyaha! This is great!]

[It's been a while since I've worked this frantically!]

[I would have no regrets even if I died now! Although... I'm already dead! Uhahaha!]

The dwarves burst into laughter as they sawed the weeds' remains. Of course, if there were only dwarves here, the result would have been reversed long ago. That's how overwhelming the number of weeds was, but they weren't alone here. So for the dwarves to be able to focus on their work, all the demons and shadow spiders were engaged in a fierce battle. Even the Elvenwoods, including Alfheim, which had been reduced to keels for all the warships, were extending their roots, directly capturing the weeds and sucking out their life force. Of course, those were just acting on instinct, but as a result, the demons' warship became a self-growing, self-repairing ship, a perfect ghost vessel... One thought possible to exist only in legends or myths. And since those on board were actually demons, it was truly the most fitting ship of death for the Sea of The Afterlife.

At this point, no matter how hard they tried, the weeds couldn't block the path of the demons' fleet crossing the waves in a straight line. Rather, they became stepping stones, making the warship even bigger. And eventually...

"Oh, my King!"

On the black sea where they couldn't discern the way forward, they finally found it.

"I see thin ice in the distance!"

"...!"

Somewhere ahead, actual cold could be felt, a giant pillar, its end invisible, was faintly noticeable beyond that. Esil grinned and roared,

"Prepare for attack! More of them will come!"

The edge of Winter.

The demons finally reached the World Tree.

* * *

Meanwhile,

Suho, who returned to reality, was taking care of other things. Sirka, who returned as a Monarch, was not an issue. The problem was the legacy left behind by the Nightmare Apostle. Especially among them...

'No. 47'

A woman with white skin and pink hair, her appearance so perfect that it was eerie, was slowly turning to dust before Suho's eyes.

"...You don't have to look at me like that."

Crackle.

No. 47, disintegrating into tiny pink cells and scattering like pollen, looked at Suho with calm eyes and said,

"I am the ultimate toy that the Doctor perfected after 46 experiments. Since my creator, the Doctor, has passed away, it is only natural for me to lose the power that sustains me and disappear."

There was no tremor in No. 47's voice as she slowly disappeared like scattering pollen. When Suho barged into the Apostle of Evolution's lab, No. 47 showed panic, But now, facing her own death, she didn't seem to have any lingering attachments.

Crackle.

"After all, I don't have a soul. I have an ego, but even that is nothing without a foundation..."

"So you're not afraid of death because you don't have a soul?"

"It means that the concept of death doesn't apply to me in the first place." No. 47 calmly answered Suho's question, her body had already half disappeared. The sight of her scattering in the wind like pollen was ironically beautiful.

"So the shadow power won't work on me either. That's something the Doctor specifically took care of when creating me."

"..."

From those words, Suho could tell how wary the Apostle of Evolution was of the shadow power. It was only natural for him to try to avoid the situation where his painstakingly developed creation was stolen as a shadow soldier... So he didn't give No. 47 a soul, he created a doll that could exist solely with a body. To put it bluntly, it was the pinnacle of a humanoid AI robot created with the apostle's power and effort. And Beru, who knew his research records better than anyone, narrowed his eyes and muttered from Suho's shoulder,

[My liege, not only No. 47, but all the previous test subjects are disintegrating, having lost their center.]

It was as he said. When Suho looked around, the 'otherworldly weapons' held by the villains who came from China were turning to dust and scattering like No. 47. The sight resembled pollen spreading in spring. It wasn't just his imagination. Suho turned his gaze back to No. 47 and asked Beru,

"Beru, tell me. How did he make these guys? Briefly..."

[Pollen.] Beru answered, recalling the Apostle of Evolution's memories.

[Various kinds of magic are mixed, but the base material is basically Elvenwood pollen.]

"He made them using the Apostle of Paradise's power?"

[Yes. The Apostle of Evolution had no talent for creation. His research was like gathering various ingredients before him and cooking. Even his ideas didn't deviate much from imitating someone.]

There was no need to ask who he was trying to imitate... Sung Jinwoo. The most astonishing and terrifying being he had ever seen. All the research the Apostle of Evolution conducted must have been to become a being like the Shadow Monarch...

"Pollen..."

Suho's gaze followed No. 47's cells, scattering everywhere. And he suddenly looked down at the 'Seed of Evolution' he was holding.

[Item: Seed of Evolution]

[Acquisition Difficulty: ??]

[Type: Consumable]

[A seed made by compressing the energy left behind by the Apostle of Evolution.]

"..."

An item that didn't give him any clues even when he looked at its description. Although it was made and handed over to him by Beru even the shadow ant himself didn't know how to use this seed.

"How should I use this?"

[...My apologies. I just gathered the power and compressed it, so I don't know its exact use. But I definitely removed the energy of Itarim, so it won't have any harmful effects on you, my liege.]

"Hmm."

Suho looked away from the Seed of Evolution and called someone else.

"Arsha, come out."

Buzzzz—

As soon as he finished speaking, small bees gathered from the surroundings. Those insects gathered together and transformed into a small fairy-like figure, bowing deeply.

[You called?] Queen Bee Arsha appeared.

Although her main body was still trapped in Suho's shadow dungeon, the worker bees she commanded always swarmed around him. Even without explicit orders, they diligently spread out and searched the surroundings to help Suho. Since her main body was permanently held hostage in his shadow, Arsha was always one step from being annihilated if she didn't remain faithful to Suho. But from the moment Ragnar was born in that world, she had been voluntarily serving as Suho's loyal subject.

[Do you have any orders for me?]

"See that pollen? Summon more worker bees and gather it all." Suho commanded Arsha

[...Excuse me?] Confused by the puzzling order, She turned her head and carefully examined No. 47 and the scenery created by the pink cells. Only then, a glint appeared in her eyes, and she nodded.

[Pollen... I understand. That's easy work for the bees.]

Buzzzzzz—

The worker bees began to work.