Solo Leveling: Ragnarok - Chapter 135

The Grave of the Dragons was where Sung Jinwoo—the Monarch of Shadows and the King of the Dead—fought the final war with Antares, the King of Dragons and the Monarch of Destruction. Antares was the strongest of the eight Monarchs born of the primordial darkness, and the only one powerful enough to have ever defeated the Monarch of Shadows. He was the embodiment of destruction. He would even risk his own demise if it meant that he could start a war rife with bloodshed, screaming, madness, and annihilation.

However, he ultimately lost to Jinwoo, and his army of destruction was absorbed into the shadow army. As a result, the dimension once known as the world of the dragons was filled with nothing but the disintegrating bodies of the dragons, who had now turned to ash, their souls having been taken. The massive amount of ash leaked out through various dimensional rifts, and some of it even reached the Echo Forest, where multiple dimensional breaches existed.

In hindsight, it was almost a miracle that Haein and Kaisel had come into this place out of the many dimensional breaches. If they ended up in any other dimension, Kaisel might never have recovered his power and would have been doomed to simply fade away. By incredible luck, the shadow dragon felt his power begin to regenerate as soon as he entered the gray snow, and the speed of his recovery increased as they went deeper into the Echo Forest where the snow fell more heavily.

Haein wondered what would happen if they entered the Grave of the Dragons. “Perhaps Kaisel will be able to get all of his power back,” she mused.

“I agree,” Beru said.

“If Cha Cha is going, I’m also going!”

“Huh?”

Sirka had suddenly barged into the conversation, attaching herself to Haein’s arm and glaring. “I left her alone last time, and I nearly died from a heart attack as a result. No matter where she goes from now on, I’m going with her.”

[Sillad gives his permission readily.]

“Wait a second! You can’t just give permission like that,” Suho said, surprised by Sillad’s sudden call.

Suho was only just seeing his mother for the first time in years, but at this rate, they’d be parted as soon as they were reunited. And now, his mother was going to an entirely different dimension. She hoped to use the dimensional breach at the heart of the Echo Forest to access the Grave of the Dragons directly.

“I’m sure there must be a dungeon full of the ashes of the dragons somewhere beyond it,” Haein said. “If I can just access it, Kaisel’s power will return far more quickly.”

“I agree with you. But if that’s the case, you should take me with you,” Suho responded.

Haein was firm. “No. I can’t allow that. You should go back to Korea. Who knows when another follower of the Itarim might appear? You need to be there to stop them since your father won’t be.”

“But a follower could appear where you’re going.”

“And why is that a problem?” Haein’s eyes curved, and a confident smile appeared on her face. She swung the Demon King’s Longsword in her hand, plunging it into the ground. “Son, don’t tell me you’re actually worried about me?”

Suho watched the sword crackle with blue electricity. He recalled that his mother was an S-rank hunter who had used that very sword to slice a follower of the Itarim in two.

Haein smiled playfully. “Are you sure you’re in any position to worry about me? Go back and get yourself some level-ups. I’m surprised you can even sleep soundly at your level. When I get back, I’ll be checking how much progress you’ve made.”

Suho groaned, feeling genuinely frustrated. Where was that encouragement when I was little and playing video games?!

Even Beru nodded, apparently pleased by her words. “You’re right. While the Young Monarch has at least become slightly stronger than an ant larva, I still fret over his safety.”

Suho sighed and decided to let her go. “Then I’ll help you find the gate to the Grave of the Dragons. Let me do that, at least.” He had some work that would require him to stay for a while, anyway—loose ends to tie up, as it were.

***

“Haein!” Ahjinsoft’s private jet landed in the coastal waters of Facade Island. Jinho had flown across the Pacific Ocean as soon as he heard the news that she had been found. He was bawling. “Oh, my goodness! I can’t even imagine the trouble you must have been through! I was so worried about you… Oh my god!”

“J-Jinho, I’m all right. Please, don’t cry…” Haein glanced over her shoulder, troubled, as the man burst into tears like a child. The secretarial staff who had come with him were standing behind her, deeply confused by this strange behavior from their CEO.

Jinho didn’t seem to care about his staff at all. “Haein, my dear sister-in-law! I remembered everything! Jinwoo, he—”

“I already heard that Suho. I understand. Now stop crying!”

Jinho hiccuped. His tears would not stop for some time. Ever since he recovered the memories of his past life, the thought of everything Jinwoo had to go through by himself never failed to bring him to tears. And as it turned out, Haein’s memories had also been restored, and she’d even been lost in some strange dungeon until now. He did not think any moment called for crying as much as this one. He moaned, about to start another round of tearful sniffling.

“Jinho, please. You’re a grown man, so act like one. People are watching you.”

But there was no helping it. At the moment, Jinho was not the same ruthless businessman who had brought about Ahjinsoft’s legendary success. He was back to being the simple-minded twenty-year-old who had followed Jinwoo around with a grin on his face long ago.

Knowing full well how he felt, Haein soon smiled, ceasing efforts to stop him from crying.

Jinho’s puffy eyes finally fell on Suho, who stood next to Haein. He cleared his throat. “Anyway, I’m so glad to see you’re safe. And you as well, Suho.” He made a belated attempt to salvage his dignity in front of his nephew, but it was too late.

Suho simply shook his head. After his uncle’s tears had dried a bit, he brought up the reason they had summoned him to the island from so far away. “In any case, Uncle… Can you lend us some money?”

“Oh, right. Do you want to purchase the exclusive rights to the Glacier Dungeon?”

“Yes. I’ll pay you back soon by selling Echo Forest Spring Water.”

The look in Jinho’s eyes changed now that they had moved on to work. Of course, his puffy eyes were not conducive to his usual level of charisma.

Earlier, Suho had informed his uncle that he’d found his mother, as well as given him a brief description of the situation on Facade Island, which was currently plagued by the Glacier Dungeon. Suho’s verdict was that the Glacier Dungeon could not be cleared because the magic beasts inside could not be killed off. In order to clear the dungeon, they would have to eliminate the entire tribe of ice elves, including Sirka. Now that this was no longer an option, they had to think about an alternative plan.

“Right. I understand that much. The ice elves are friends of Haein’s. Of course, we can’t kill them… How about relocating them outside the dungeon, then?” Jinho asked.

“You mean, let them live on Earth?” Removing the ice elves from the dungeon would also count as clearing it, but the elves had refused this option. Suho informed him as such.

“We don’t want that at all. The Baruka Tribe has a duty to defend our Monarch’s sanctuary. We are not leaving the forest,” Sirka said.

Jinho stared at the ice elf, who had appeared out of nowhere and was glaring at him. “She’s real cute. What is she saying?” The way she murmured in the language of her people intrigued him, but he couldn’t understand a word. “So in any case, they can’t be moved. But you’re saying this Echo Forest Spring Water, an antidote, is worth money?”

“Yes. It’s a natural spring, so it’s unlikely to run out.”

Of course, even groundwater was not infinite. The spring might eventually be depleted in time. That, however, was not really an issue at present.

“Hmm… If we bring too much to the market at once, it will only drive prices down. I suppose it’ll be crucial to keep supply moderately low. And it’s also not clear how effective this antidote will be…” Jinho calmly considered the possibilities in his head.

The item’s description only stated that it combated poison. They would need to perform a series of experiments to check what poisons it could neutralize and how effectively it could do it. Properly figuring out the value of a product before marketing it was a core tenet of any business. The process required a lot of manpower, time, and naturally, investment. This was where Jinho’s business acumen came in handy.

“But before that, Suho, tell me one thing. You entered the dungeon with the hunters of the Scavenger Guild, didn’t you? Didn’t they want the rights, too?” Jinho was curious about this. The operation that Suho proposed would be a simple and lucrative one—simply entering the dungeon, bringing some spring water out, and selling it. Why doesn’t the Scavenger Guild want all this easy money? he wondered.

Thomas Andre’s secretary, Laura, walked over at that moment. “We’re sorely disappointed, I assure you. But the ice elves will only allow Sung Suho to access the path leading to the spring in the Echo Forest.”

Laura looked genuinely dismayed, but for the ice elves, it was the natural decision. The water was drawn from the sanctuary of the former Monarch of Frost, a place forbidden to outsiders. It was also terribly difficult for an ordinary human to traverse the magical snowstorm and find their way through the Echo Forest. Outsiders would be forced to ask the ice elves to go there themselves and bring back some of the spring water.

“The ice elves will only do this for Sung Suho or Cha Haein,” Laura stated. They were the friends of the elves and were acknowledged by their former Monarch. “Therefore, the Scavenger Guild wishes to make a proposition to Mr. Sung—”

“Hold on,” Jinho said, raising a hand and cutting her off. His staff rushed over with a thick package of documents in their hands.

Laura was intimidated despite herself. She took a deep breath in preparation. He won’t go down without a fight, will he? The immature, puffy-faced man who had cried his eyes out in front of his sister-in-law had disappeared. Instead, Jinho was back to being the icy businessman and CEO, looking coldly down at Laura.