Solo Leveling: Ragnarok - Chapter 146

Suddenly, the nearby villains found thin red cuts appearing on their necks, one after the other. Red blood gushed out of the wounds.

“He’s using a concealment skill!”

“Oh no! He’s back from the dead!”

Invisible daggers were massacring the villains without mercy, creating an explosion of blood.

“W-wait! His body is right there!”

The villains, who had been triumphant for a moment after killing Taeshik, stared in shock at his corpse lying on the ground. Even at that moment, they were falling—one with a slashed neck, and another with severed legs.

All the while, a maddened, laughing assassin trailed those who turned tail. The concealment skill that Taeshik used while alive was still very much in effect, even though he’d become a shadow soldier.

“Th-there!” The mage who had burned Taeshik earlier ground his teeth angrily and summoned another giant fireball. “You rabble! You can’t even deal with a single assassin?” Confident, he let the fire burn over both hands. “A single hit is all it takes to kill him!”

This was not an exaggeration or a bluff. Assassin-type hunters had powerful and effective attacks, but their flaw was their weak defense. They didn’t wear armor, since it slowed them down. That usually made them worthless unless they had strong tankers to hide behind as they fought.

Unlike hunter-assassins, mages weren’t required to use physical strength in battle, and they could wear all the armor they wanted to protect themselves. And no matter how many monsters there were—and even if they were invisible like the current enemy—a mage could simply cast an area-of-effect spell over a wide range.

“You idiots! Get out of the way if you don’t want to be fried!” the mage shouted.

“Oh, God!”

“G-get out of the way!”

The villains scattered, frightened by the warning from behind them.

The invisible assassin continued to slay them one by one, but a vast fireball suddenly flew toward the final victim. It exploded on contact.

Kang Taeshik, the shadow assassin, was sucked into the explosion. He felt his body melt away in the flames. He breathed an elated sigh and felt adoration for Suho, who had turned him into a shadow soldier.

At the same time, he mused, Is this what it means to be a shadow? He had just realized the true worth of the power that had been granted to him. An assassin presided over the lives of his victims, putting them at the edge of light and darkness. Truly, this power suits an assassin like nothing else.

He suddenly recalled the eyes of the man who had brought him his first death. That man’s thick shadow had swirled around him, and his movements were sharp. Taeshik mimicked the movements, holding his two daggers in a reverse grip as his eyes gleamed.

At that moment, a new power flowed into his melting body. The black steam that made up his form recombined, and he shot through the flames like a vengeful ghost. He crushed the foot of the magic-wielding villain who had just tried to kill him. The man screamed, shocked by the pain in his foot, and tried to back away.

“Far too slow,” Taeshik said. The villain was unable to move for a moment as the daggers sliced through his body mercilessly. Faster.Faster!Even faster!

Countless lines formed over the man’s skin, and a terrible howl escaped his lips. The resulting cloud of blood was as beautiful as it was cruel, and the silhouette of the ruthless killer, drenched in blood, finally came into view.

Taeshik’s eyes and mouth formed a broad grin. “Struggle all you want. I am invincible today,” he said. The B-rank assassin had lost his only weakness the moment he became a shadow soldier, turning him into the strongest death-bringer there was.

So he’s like Que. As Suho watched, he drew comparisons to the lancer. Lee Minsung had been an A-rank villain. Arsha had forced him to undergo modification, which had destroyed all of his skills and turned him into a lancer—specialized in nothing but sure aim and speed. Giving up on his defense, Que had become a damage dealer that was all about agility. But Taeshik, a former B-rank assassin, had become an entirely different kind of shadow soldier. He was slower, but he was capable of hiding himself completely

Que moved so quickly that it was impossible to track his movements, and Taeshik concealed himself as if he were invisible. They were both knight-grade shadow soldiers, but that didn’t mean their power was equal. Knights, however, were beings that fought for their king—the distinction of who was stronger wasn’t really important. They served different uses depending on the characteristics and abilities they had possessed in life. What mattered most was Suho’s ability to wield them where appropriate, according to what they were capable of.

However, Suho had picked up on one thing—Taeshik had access to an emotion the other shadow soldiers did not.

“I think you could use him freely without fear that his abilities will be exposed to others,” Beru said.

“Right,” Suho responded, nodding with a faint smile. “This soldier is quite appealing.”

Then something changed. A deafening noise filled the air, and a heaviness descended over Yami Village. At the same time, the surroundings began to distort and ripple. The roads and buildings bubbled and shot into the air, melding together as they formed huge walls.

“Wh-what in the world?”

“Get out of the way!”

The remaining villains seemed confused as well, which meant that they weren’t the ones behind this.

Taeshik, who’d been busy massacring the villains, rushed up to Suho and revealed himself. “Master! I have something to tell you. The moment I died, some old man appeared and tried to corrupt my soul.”

“An old man?”

“Yes! I didn’t see his face, but if I saw correctly, the magic circle he bound me with seems to have been applied to the entire village.”

“Why are you only telling us this now?” Beru demanded.

Taeshik fell silent. It was hard to admit that he’d been too caught up in the joy of killing.

“Young Monarch! This has to be sorcery cast by demonic spirits!” Beru said. He’d experienced many such spells firsthand during the Monarchs War. The problem was that they were so diverse that they never seemed to be repeated. “Demonic spirits are evil beings that enjoy capturing their enemies, torturing them, and performing experiments on them! That has allowed them mastery over a breadth of bizarre spells and curses!”

Demonic spirits were infamous for their obsessive curiosity and observational skills, which far surpassed those of any other race from any dimension—and the most famous among them was probably Kandiaru. His leveling system that allowed humans to transcend their limits was only accomplished thanks to the deaths of the countless subjects of his experiments. One such project was Ammut’s pyramid, which was engineered to research the Iron Body technique.

Given all of this, Suho believed he could tell what the old man wanted. “Don’t tell me… Is this village a testing ground, like the pyramid?” As he ran between the ground and the buildings, which were folding and bending at odd angles, he watched the villains, who were also struggling to escape. He noted the mana inhibitors that they still wore on their ankles.

“Maybe it was also a demonic spirit who helped the villains escape from Jisan Prison,” he mused. The pyramid was a place that countless challengers had entered of their own accord, only to be captured by Ammut and forced to endure deadly torture under the guise of Iron Body technique training. Such experiments had resulted in the Mummy’s Bandages, though even after that item was created, too many people had failed to endure the training and been turned into mummies. What of this place, then?

“I agree, Young Monarch!” Beru shouted. “Perhaps the demonic spirits let the villains escape in order to use them as test subjects—”

Something surprising happened overhead before he could finish. Suho and Beru noticed a great shadow loom above them, and they raised their heads. A gigantic hand was descending toward them from the ominous sky.

Taeshik recognized it and shouted, “It’s the same hand! It’s the old man who tried to take me!”

The wizened hand that had tried to snatch away Kang Taeshik’s soul had actually materialized. Once again, it was after the assassin. “Hehehe! I can’t let a tasty evil spirit like you get away,” came a voice that echoed through the sky.

Taeshik trembled, even though he was now a shadow soldier. He was being pursued by a member of a race that treated souls like toys. Of course, there was no telling what would happen if that hand grabbed him now.

The moment the enemy appeared, however, Suho jumped into action. “Gray!”

The wolf dashed over a wall from a distance. He seemed to have been attacking the villains since the fight began at the convenience store, as his teeth were drenched with their blood. His bloodied face contrasted greatly with his cute appearance.

Beru realized what Suho was intending to do and immediately used his skills. “Pup! It’s time to show off your new powers!”

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

[Skill: “Ruthless Command” increases Gray’s stats by 50%.]

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

Gray’s eyes changed. He growled, but this time, something was different. He had been given the Monarch of Fangs’ gift, Rakan’s Fang. The spirit inside it entered the wolf, and he finally charged onto the path of truly becoming Rakan’s successor.

Gray’s body was wrapped in a mystical silver light as he ran toward Suho, growing larger and larger. The adorable features of his tiny face grew fiercer as well, like those of a giant, vicious tiger. The energy of Rakan’s Fang and Kasaka’s Venom Fang emanated from his mouth, along with a beastly roar that seemed to set the entire world shaking.

Suho produced a mana potion, refilling the mana he’d used up while casting Frigid Storm. He then jumped up from the angled ground and landed on the wolf’s back. “Gray! Go forward!” he shouted.

Gray’s front paws, much bigger than before, launched them up a dramatically slanted wall. They were aiming for the massive hand.

[Skill: “Iron Body Technique” has activated.]

“Even if the enemy’s an illusion or sorcery…” Suho struck out with a massive fist, covered with a dark energy. “A man fights back with his fists!”

An earth-shattering explosion caused the hand to break apart.

“This power…” From the sky, the old man’s voice thundered, “Can it be… the Monarch of Iron Body?!”