Solo Leveling: Ragnarok - Chapter 124

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

…….

As he proceeded to march toward the Echo Forest, Suho crushed the Ice Golems that continued to rush at him, their numbers undiminished.

“Clear the way! Keep pushing them back!”

“Death to all the accursed creatures who dare to step in the Young Monarch’s path!”

Que took the lead, while Suho’s shadow army, under Beru’s encouragement, pushed forward relentlessly. No matter how many times the Ice Golems came back, and no matter if it was essentially a direct foray into the heart of enemy territory, they pressed on.

If my mother is ahead… Suho was determined not to stop. “Push on through!”

The golems roared. An intense battle raged, one of killing and being killed, both sides resurrected without end. And Suho was right in the thick of it, quashing the golems with abandon and not hiding behind his soldiers.

Unbelievable. Sirka watched him from behind, utter shock on her face. So this is Cha Cha’s son? Seeing Cha Haein fight was like watching a beautiful dance, but with Suho, it was more like watching a storm. He himself was the eye of the storm, his swords tearing apart enemies far bigger than he.

The shadow soldiers were not to be outdone. There was fierce hand-to-hand combat going on, with the two shadow minotaurs at the lead. Their powerful bodies wreaked overwhelming destruction.

Beru, meanwhile, was providing support.

[Beru activated the skill: “Ruthless Command”.]

[Skill: “Ruthless Command” increases the shadow soldiers’ stats by 50%.]

[Skill: “Ruthless Command” has a side effect that causes the shadow soldiers to be afflicted by a curse of madness.]

Mino and Tau went completely berserk. Their muscles swelled until they seemed fit to explode. They swung their arms about randomly, laying waste not only to the Ice Golems, but also to the forest itself. In comparison to the flurry of explosions and destruction, the Ice Golems almost seemed pitiful.

But the real battle starts now, Sirka thought. She gave a warning to Suho. “This is the edge of Echo Forest! And from now on—”

Before she could finish, an incredible number of ice arrows began to fall upon the shadow soldiers. Suho’s eyes glinted as the arrows froze his soldiers instantly, after which they shattered into countless shards.

Suho looked around, searching for the source of the arrows. Familiar figures were perched atop the dense trees of the Echo Forest, aiming their bows in this direction. “Ice elves?” he murmured.

“No! Those are…” Sirka had a troubled look on her face. “Well, those are our warriors. But their souls have been devoured by the spirits of the forest.”

Oh, I see. Suho recalled what the ice elves had told him about the forest. It was forbidden territory, and not even they could survive for long inside. And the reason was now staring them in the face. So that’s what it means to be possessed by the spirits…

Suho deflected arrows with his swords as he quickly took stock of his enemies. They were like white ghosts, standing among the many branches. The only thing he could sense within their empty, unfocused eyes was madness.

Their bodies were also partly frozen. Even if the shadow soldiers managed to tear or slice their bodies, a frosty wind blew out of nowhere and healed them. But perhaps “heal” wasn’t the right word. It seemed that the wounds were being patched up with ice.

“Just like the Ice Golems,” Suho said.

“Well… These are the same spirits that are in the golems,” Sirka said, looking worried.

[Ice Golem]

[Ice Golem]

…….

Suho nodded. Sirka was right. Above each of the heads of the possessed ice elves was a name tag that read “Ice Golem.”

Further proof was that the possessed elves slowly seemed to transform into Ice Golems as their wounds were repeatedly healed with ice over the course of the battle. If the golems outside the forest were created by spirits riding the snowstorm, these golems were the spirits entering the bodies of elves that had died in the forest.

But as Suho watched them fire arrows with the same skill they had possessed while they were alive, he realized something. “Were they the ones who shot the arrows back then?” His party had fallen into this place when Ice Golems broke through the ground, but right before they appeared, someone or something had shot arrows at them. It seemed these were the culprits, and the creatures had been working together.

That means there must be another gate somewhere in the Echo Forest that leads outward. The elves couldn’t have physically flown to Earth, which meant there was another passageway.

“Th-this is as far as I can go,” Sirka said, suddenly showing hesitation. “I’d like to go in further with you, but if I do, I’ll be possessed as well.”

Suho turned to look at her. He appreciated her guidance during this snowstorm, which wreaked havoc with his senses. He wanted to keep her around. “Is there no way to combat the spirits?” he asked.

“Almost none. The spirits here have a high affinity with my tribe. If they were to come after my mind in earnest, there’s almost no way for me to defend myself.”

“Does that mean there is a way, then?”

“Hmm. Actually…” Sirka said, turning to look at him. “I wanted to ask, just in case… That fur you’re wearing. That’s the skin of an ice bear, right?”

“Oh. Yes, it is,” he said, nodding.

Sirka spoke hesitantly. “Actually… The ice spirits are at odds with the ice bears. If I wear that fur, they will stay away.”

“Oh, is that how it works?”

“Oh! I don’t mean you should give it to me, of course. The fur of an ice bear is the symbol of a warrior. I know just how important the robe is to a warrior who has managed to kill one—”

Jingle.

[Item: “Ice Bear’s Robe” has been purchased.]

“Here. Put it on.” A new robe appeared in Suho’s hand, and Sirka’s eyes went wide.

She was touched by his generosity. “Y-you… You’re such a nice guy!”

“Just put it on. Can’t you see we’re in the middle of something here?”

The arrows continued to rain down from all directions. Sirka quickly threw the robe over her shoulders, and Suho opened his inventory and switched out his gear in the meantime. As it happened, he had the two bows that he’d purchased for the Glacier Dungeon. One was the greatbow he’d bought with Rio Singh’s corporate card, and the other was quite an impressive object that Lim Taegyu, the master of the Fiend Guild, had lent him.

[The Fiend’s Bow (Replica)]

[Acquisition Difficulty: A

Type: Bow

Attack Power +90

An industrial replica of “The Fiend’s Bow (S),” the symbol of the Fiend Guild.

Its attack power is low for its rarity, but the high density of its mana arrows triples the effect of archery skills.]

Of course, Suho didn’t really need this item at all. He did not congeal mana to produce mana arrows, like ordinary archers—instead, he formed arrows out of shadow soldiers and fired them off. But since there was no knowing what could happen inside a dungeon, he hadn’t been able to refuse Taegyu’s offer to lend it to him for free.

Good thing I took him up on it. Suho took the greatbow in hand and handed the replica of the Fiend’s Bow to Sirka. “Here. I’ll lend you this, too. Starting now, you should also fight.”

Sirka looked far more shocked than when he’d handed her the robe. “Wait, what? You’re giving me such a nice bow?”

“I said I’m lending it to you. It’s not even mine.”

“Thank you so much! I’ll make it worthwhile!”

It became immediately clear what she meant. After taking the replica bow graciously, a transformation suddenly came over her. Just like Beru’s relentless guidance pushed magic beasts into a frenzy, a good bow could have the same effect on an archer. Mana of an incredible density suddenly formed in the bow, forming no less than six separate mana arrows.

“I didn’t know that was possible!” Sirka, who’d only been able to produce two arrows at a time before, felt extreme gratification as she pulled the bowstring back. When she released it, the arrows whizzed forth at a breakneck pace, knocking the enemy arrows out of the air. There was a loud series of crashing noises as the arrows canceled each other out and sent shards of ice flying.

“Now follow me! I’ll keep guiding you to the places Cha Cha might be!” the elf said, confident once more as she took the lead.

“Out of the way.”

At Suho’s voice, Sirka quickly turned to look behind her, suddenly feeling a chill. Her eyes glittered at the sight before her. The young hunter was drawing back a black arrow on his greatbow, which was pulsing with unbelievable power.

“Go and wreak havoc, Que.” He released the bowstring, and a streak of black lightning ripped through the snow-filled air.

“My god.” Sirka was stupefied.

The arrow behaved like a literal bolt of lightning, zigzagging in random directions like it had a mind of its own as it pierced the bodies of their enemies. The ice elves who were hit shattered in rapid sequence like ice sculptures being crushed. Sirka noticed that the spirits inside the ice elves perished in its wake, fading away like smoke. New spirits immediately rushed to enter the empty husks.

Suho felt the spirits coming as well, however. “I can’t let them take those bodies.” The Ice Golems they’d encountered thus far had been nothing but hunks of ice. But these elves were actual bodies, with bits of flesh still remaining in them. That meant he still had a chance to use them before the spirits regained control.

[Target is eligible for shadow extraction.]

[Target is eligible for shadow extraction.]

[Target is eligible for shadow extraction.]

He grinned. He quickly unsummoned a few Shadow Kobolds to create some empty slots, then he stole the precious bodies before the spirits could snatch them away.

“Arise.” The shattered bodies suddenly sprouted dark shadows, rippling like sails in a storm.

[The Shadow Extraction was a success.]

[The Shadow Extraction was a success.]

[The Shadow Extraction was a success.]