Solo Leveling- Ragnarok-Chapter 287

Once again, Suho had an extremely busy night—but he wasn’t the only one.

The shadow soldiers had been working tirelessly as well. To start, they had emptied another bakery in South Korea, loading up shipping containers with bread and pastries. Inside those containers, the shadow soldiers sat in neat rows, looking every bit like bakery employees. Then at Beru’s command, they began unwrapping the plastic packaging with careful precision. It was delicate work, and those who were too rough or clumsy were immediately tossed out by Beru.

“Kieeeek! I told you to use a spray for bread of this sort!”

Once a great commander who had led a massive army of ants, Beru had become a ruthless and authoritative bakery manager.

“You barbaric creatures! How many times must I tell you? Each type of bread looks different and has its own unique packaging!”

“Use a syringe for this one! Keep the bread crispy, and carefully add the Echo Forest Spring Water only to the filling!”

It was manual labor, but the soldiers dutifully followed Beru’s bellowed orders. Each piece of bread sold at Beru Bakery had the Echo Forest Spring Water applied in one way or the other.

I wasn’t entirely sure, to be honest, Suho thought.

But in the end, his plan had been a success.

[Item: Echo Forest Spring Water]

[Acquisition Difficulty: ??

Type: Consumable

Mysterious spring water from Echo Forest. It has antidotal effects when drunk or applied to one’s body.]

Echo Forest Spring Water was an ingredient for the Life-Giving Elixir. It was such a powerful antidote that it could neutralize even the Purified Blood of the Demon King.

If it worked on Monarchs, it would work on followers of the Itarim as well. It was indeed capable of purifying the energy of the Outer Gods.

The only issue was that the water’s effects were rather weak when applied to the bread, likely because each piece of bread only contained a small amount. That was why Haseul had nearly fallen under the Apostle of Paradise’s influence before breaking free.

But even if the effects took time to show, they were still very much there.

Wham!

“Gah!

Suho’s thunderous blow sent the Apostle of Paradise crashing into the earth. The sheer force of the impact shattered the ground, burying the apostle under layers of dirt and debris.

The apostle gritted his teeth, his face twisted in a complicated storm of rage and disbelief, but he had no time to lie in the dirt. Suho was already upon him again, his second strike incoming.

The Apostle of Paradise had been caught off guard once, and he had no intention of letting it happen again. Raising his arm, he traced his index finger through the air in a swift, horizontal slash.

“Devour him, mouth of the void!”

Suho’s entire body stiffened. Following the apostle’s gesture, an enormous, gaping maw tore through the space between them. It yawned open with terrifying force, sucking in the very air around it—along with Suho. His momentum only accelerated his descent as he was pulled in at an incredible speed.

“Young Monarch!” Beru shouted. “Watch out—”

“Gray!” Suho called.

With a deep, guttural growl, the wolf materialized beneath Suho’s feet. His body coiled like a spring before launching them both backward.

It was a razor-thin escape. Suho and Gray barely veered away before the abyssal maw could consume them.

But the rift had already opened, and now it was swallowing everything—even the blizzard raging through the city. The sight was surreal. The pure-white snowstorm was swirling into a giant vortex and being siphoned into the void.

Beru knew at a glance what the Apostle of Paradise had done.

“It’s a dimensional rift! He tore the dimensional wall by force!”

He did that with nothing but a gesture? Suho thought. This apostle was physically weak, yet his abilities were unique.

Suho had been through dimensional rifts before. Beyond that rift lay an incomprehensible void—an infinite, unknowable space. If sucked inside, an unlucky person would float about endlessly until death. If they were lucky, they might stumble upon another rift connected to some unknown dimension, but that wasn’t worth gambling on.

“If he does that enough times, it could destroy the entire dimension Earth occupies!” Beru shouted.

It was similar to how the demons’ dimension had been torn apart and scattered, or how the sky in the world of the elves had caved in.

Beru continued, “The best way to stop up that hole...”

“Is to cut off that damned finger, I suppose!” Suho shouted.

“Bingo!”

Riding atop Gray, Suho charged straight through the swirling blizzard.

The Apostle of Paradise was now standing, still pointing at Suho from beyond the vortex. He bared his teeth, glaring. “Not bad. I never thought a mere human could surprise me like this.”

“You look pretty battered for someone acting all high and mighty,” Suho responded.

The apostle coughed and wiped blood from his lips. “I can do this... all day.” He was still holding up the index finger of his other hand.

It was clear—the apostle was suffering. Suho had already landed a direct hit on him once, and the result had been telling.

He’s weaker than I thought.

Even if he was at the level of “apostle,” he was physically far weaker than any follower Suho had met.

Beru did not rate him highly, either. “If he witnessed me from a distance in the past, I’m quite sure he was one of the followers who provided magical support from the rear.”

In terms of class, this apostle was a mage, not a warrior. Perhaps his abilities were more powerful and widely applicable than those of a warrior, but that meant he would be an easy opponent if he was never given the time to apply them.

“Are you the one who planted the Elvenwood?” Suho asked.

“That’s right. This land is my carefully cultivated garden.”

The apostle’s glare sharpened as Suho raced through the blizzard.

“And you are the one who has defiled it.”

This time, his index finger slashed vertically. Once more, the dimensional barrier tore open, forming an even larger, cross-shaped rift.

The effect was catastrophic. In an instant, the suction force increased by three or four times. Even Gray struggled to maintain his footing.

[The Monarch of Destruction advises you to use his breath.]

In truth, Antares had been pestering Suho for some time now.

However, the pull of the rift was the problem. Antares’ breath attack was immensely powerful, but that meant it came with extreme recoil. In Suho’s current state, unable to properly anchor himself, it would be nearly impossible to launch a straight attack with perfect accuracy.

Still, I just have to make it work.

On the other side of the city, Sirka’s voice rang out from where she was fending off the frost spirits.

“Suho! Use Elven Footstep!”

By now, he had already leaped from Gray’s back, and his feet were skimming over the snow-laden wind.

Elven Footstep was a skill that allowed Suho to walk on snow-covered fields as well as over the Sea of the Afterlife. Sirka had already demonstrated the true potential of this ability, and Suho was confident he could mimic her. He had a small trick of his own, to boot.

“Gray, Divine Possession!”

The wolf let out a low growl.

[The spiritual body of “Pet: Gray” has bound to the Shaman.]

A surge of sacred wind swept over Suho. His hair shifted to a brilliant silver as it fluttered in the storm.

[Skill: “Meadow Wind” has activated.]

[Movement speed is temporarily increased by 30%.]

[Attack speed is temporarily increased by 30%.]

An animalistic awareness settled into Suho’s body, his senses sharpening.

Without hesitation, he raced forward across the wind. The maneuver looked reckless—one wrong move, and he could be swallowed whole by the rift. But he moved with unwavering control, balancing himself like a surfer on top of a board.

[Skill: The level of “Elven Footstep” has increased.]

No training was more effective than real battle.

“What a peculiar skill you’ve got there,” the Apostle of Paradise said with a strained cough.

The sight of Suho running on the wind itself seemed to have thrown the apostle off guard. He masked his reaction well, pretending to remain calm, but he still hadn’t fully recovered from the damage Suho had inflicted. The power of the fruits gathered in this place was working to regenerate his wounds in real-time, but the hunter was closing in too fast.

In the end, the apostle redirected his recovery power into an offensive strike.

“It’s useless. I can always create more of these openings,” he muttered.

His finger traced through the air again—but before he could make a third tear, a deep crimson energy erupted from Suho’s body, boiling over.

The apostle’s face lost all composure.

“W-wait... What is that power?”

Shock and horror filled his features.

It was only natural for him to be taken aback. After all, he had only ever fought shadow soldiers. He had never faced the Monarch of Shadows directly. Now Suho was radiating a force completely foreign to him.

[Skill: “Breath of Destruction” has activated.]

This power belonged to none other than the Monarch who had battled the great Sung Jinwoo to the very end of that terrible war—Antares, the Monarch of Destruction and the King of Dragons.

The infernal flames of destruction burst from Suho’s hands. They cut a searing path through the storm as they hurtled toward the apostle.

“What in the—”

Faced with such overwhelming force, the apostle recoiled in sheer panic. He instinctively reacted, tearing open another rift in a desperate attempt to redirect the blast.

But Suho was already ahead of him.

Ruler’s Authority!

Suho’s eyes flashed, and the apostle’s eyes widened in disbelief. Two daggers—Kamish’s Wraths—were flying through the blizzard and toward the apostle at an unbelievable speed. But what truly surprised him wasn’t the attack—it was the power it carried.

“How do you have a Ruler’s power?!”

It was simply impossible. This was an ungodly combination of forces.

[Skill: “Mutilation” has activated.]

The first thing to go was the apostle’s outstretched finger. Then Suho carved through his body like a violent tempest, mercilessly tearing him apart.

The apostle’s screams of agony filled the air. Writhing in agony, he suddenly became aware that half his body had already melted away. Though he had managed to redirect some of the Breath of Destruction, he hadn’t been able to block it entirely.

“Y-you... A mere human!”

But it wasn’t over yet.

“You... You think I would die... in my own garden?”

Even as his flesh burned and dissolved, the apostle glared at Suho with vicious determination. His voice carried a terrible curse.

The system, as if suddenly realizing the gravity of the situation, alerted Suho with an urgent message.

[The Apostle of Paradise has marked you as his enemy.]

From within the raging flames, his smoldering gaze fixated on Suho. He ground his teeth.

“I... I will kill you myself. I will!” he roared. “You may look forward to it. At any cost... using any method... I will ensure...”

With that, the remainder of his body began to crumble. It was not burned by the flames, but collapsed of its own volition, scattering in the wind.

“Did we finish him off?” Beru asked.

“Hmm. I think he just survived, thanks to your advice,” Suho said.

Beru screeched in protest.

As the winter city burned beneath the dying embers of battle, the apostle made his escape. He was bent on revenge.

***

Bang!

The door to Yuri Orloff’s office flew open.

“Give me all the information you have on Sung Suho!”

“And what happened to you? Did you switch bodies?” Yuri asked, frowning at the apostle’s sudden interruption. For some reason, a distinct burnt smell lingered in the air. “Did you find out what you wanted? What is this ‘Monarch of Shadows’ you mentioned?”

“Shut up and give me every bit of information you have on Sung Suho. I told you to have it ready by the time I returned!”

“Hmm...

Sipping his wine, Yuri leisurely took in the look of seething hatred on the apostle’s face.

I never thought I’d see him so riled up.

It was clear—the apostle had failed miserably.

How strange.

“Ah, yes!” the apostle cried. “He’s human! Surely, he has family. He can’t be an orphan like you!”

“Hmm... Family?”

A smirk crept onto Yuri’s lips, and his eyes flashed like those of a snake. He was intrigued.

“I never thought you would say something like that. You had no interest in humans, but now you want to use the concept of family?”

At Yuri’s taunt, the apostle glared and ground his teeth. “I told you to shut up! Before I deal with him directly, I’ll cut down every person around him. I’ll prune him just like my ruined garden!”

So he really was defeated? I wasn’t expecting that, Yuri thought. He quietly raised Sung Suho’s threat level in his mind.

This slight aggravation had been enough to make the apostle extremely angry—not that it mattered. This particular apostle was as resilient as a weed. Yuri knew that with just a bit of prodding, he would continue to be endlessly useful.

“Don’t be so upset.” With a lazy sip of wine, Yuri slid a thick file across the desk. “Lucky for you, I already did the research.”

—Relatives

“I’m not one of your kind. I was going to do things the human way from the start,” Yuri said as he smiled gently and pointed to the first page of the file. “Yangpyeong. That’s where you want to go. It just so happens that all of Suho’s weaknesses are gathered there.”