Solo Leveling- Ragnarok-Chapter 290

Beyond the thick fog, the true contamination had begun.

“Grow.”

The Apostle of Paradise moved leisurely through the mist, scattering seeds with no concern for where they landed. As they sank into the earth, the once-pure forests of Yangpyeong began to change.

“Prosper.”

The clean soil darkened, shifting into an unnatural purple hue, its texture warping into something sticky and flesh-like. Above it, the roots of the Elvenwood spread out like blood vessels. They burst through the ground, enveloping everything around them. Branches shot upward, twisting and writhing unnaturally.

This Elvenwood no longer resembled a tree. It moved and grew on its own as if it were a living organism.

“This place shall become my new paradise.”

A grotesque mass of fungal tendrils spread through the forest. Like a vast spider’s web, they slithered outward, infecting everything they touched—the trees, the grass, the rocks, even the air itself. All of it was slowly warping, morphing into something that was quite familiar to the Apostle of Paradise.

“I offer all these things to my great deities, the Itarim.”

As he walked, the pristine natural scenery was swallowed up, consumed by the creeping influence of the Outer Universes.

Within the thick fog, Elvenwood saplings began to sprout. Their growth was unnatural, accelerating at a terrifying pace and changing the surrounding landscape in an instant. The forest’s healthy pine trees began to rot, infected by the encroaching roots. Now no more than fodder, the decaying trees were absorbed as nutrients for the growing Elvenwoods.

Small animals, once frolicking through the undergrowth, twisted and contorted, mutating into grotesque magic beasts. They shrieked as they transformed.

The apostle exhaled in satisfaction.

“Magnificent.”

He took a deep breath, inhaling the familiar air of his spreading paradise.

As he came to the edge of the corruption, he bared his teeth in a grotesque grin. This garden was growing far faster than any of his previous ones. It was the proof of how much rage burned within him—rage toward Suho, the hunter who had humiliated him.

On the edge of the mutating region of Yangpyeong, he saw something that made him pause.

“Humans...”

There was a bright flash, and a completely different landscape came into his view. For some reason, that place alone remained untouched. It was bathed in warm light.

“Sis! Look at this!”

“Wow. Such pretty flowers!”

“Let me see too!”

The apostle could hear carefree laughter. A wide, well-maintained garden stretched before him. Children played, smiling as they ran about. Their pure laughter echoed through the clear, untainted sky.

The apostle grinned, his eyes flashing as he discovered them from afar.

“An orphanage. Very good.”

Back when he first arrived on Earth, he had no interest in humans as a species. What good would it do to know what kind of ecosystem had formed on this planet? Its organisms were destined to die, melted into a handful of mana. All he had to do was contaminate the landscape and turn it into something that he was accustomed to, as he was doing now.

However, while staying with Yuri in Russia, he had noticed some things about humans. Particularly...

Family.

The concept did not exist in his world, but it did for the humans.

To him, the notion was utterly alien. Technically, the Itarim who had created him might be considered his parents, but he was fundamentally different from a human being. Humans did not worship their parents or regard them as gods. Their parents did not destroy them if they disobeyed either. This contrast had both intrigued the apostle and upset him at the same time.

Then he had discovered abandoned humans—children discarded by their own kind.

Created beings, left behind by their creators... that was familiar enough. The apostle had been thrown onto a battlefield because of a god’s command, torn apart in both body and power, then cast into other dimensions as mere fragments of himself. That had been his fate. No wonder orphaned humans intrigued him—they had something in common.

Perhaps that was why, when he encountered Yuri in Russia, he had willingly cooperated with the man’s open and obvious ambition. Yuri was an orphan, and on an instinctive level, the source of the desire and deficit within him had been welcoming to the apostle.

But as he inspected the lives of the humans by Yuri’s side a while longer, something puzzled him greatly. It was the orphanages. For whatever reason, humans gathered the creations who had been abandoned or lost their parents and managed them in a facility called an “orphanage,” presumably to protect them. It was a disgusting, useless thing to do.

“Now, now, children! Playtime is over. It’s time for lunch!”

“Yay! What’s on the menu today?”

“Curry and pork cutlets!”

“Really? Amazing!”

“Wow!”

The scene unfolding in front of the apostle was as peaceful as a painting. Nothing could have displeased him more.

But the Apostle of Paradise now knew that appearances could be deceiving. He had seen many orphanages during his time in Russia. On the surface, they seemed peaceful enough, but in reality, they were dens of corruption full of adults who used children for their own gain.

And as for the souls living within the orphanages...

“They are such excellent food.”

The Apostle of Paradise gulped hungrily and took slow, deliberate steps toward the Yangpyeong Children’s Home, intent in his eyes. These souls, filled with loneliness and distorted by suppressed longing, were perfect material for new soldiers.

With every step he took, the forest behind him rotted and the earth cracked. The dense darkness crept forward, inching ever closer—poised to smother the laughter of those pitiful souls who merely pretended to be happy.

“Look, Sis! More flowers!”

A small girl stood in the garden, pointing directly at the apostle and smiling.

He realized she was pointing at the twisted, otherworldly blossoms blooming in his wake. The people of this planet seemed to call these plants “Elvenwoods,” but in the world where he had lived, they were entities categorized as “Feeder Plants.”

His grin widened. At some point, he had already closed the distance, and he now stood right before the girl.

She noticed his smile and cocked her head. “Who are you?”

“How would you like a taste of this?”

Rather than introduce himself, the apostle simply extended his hand. A single, luscious red fruit rested in his palm.

***

Yangpyeong was a place of lovely natural scenery, a land of lush greenery and lingering fog.

Atop a sheer cliff, a man sat in perfect stillness, his eyes closed in deep meditation. He seemed very old, with his hair a stark white.

Blue gems the size of fists were embedded all over his body. These were Stones of the Outer Gods, gemstones that contained high concentrations of the mana of the Outer Universes.

For the old man, the strange energy seeping from within the stones was both a blessing and a curse. They were a medium that allowed him to use the mana that flowed from the Outer Universes, but the price this exacted was heavy. With every passing moment, the tremendous power was eating away at his body. There was an immense dimensional pressure bearing down on him. His very skin and muscles were forced to withstand an unending strain, on the verge of being ripped apart. The numerous Stones of the Outer Gods embedded in him quivered restlessly, straining to tear open dimensional breaches.

I will endure.

He had no choice. This power had been forced upon him, and it was now his duty to suppress the rifts as well.

His muscles swelled to the brink of tearing. They were far too defined for a man of his age. His control over this unearthly energy was not just extraordinary—it was inhuman.

Indeed, he was inhumanly skilled, and with reason. This was not the first time that he had accepted a humanly unendurable power within his body. In fact, at one point, a far greater strength had been crammed into his meager form. He had done it to protect his son, even if it meant risking his own life.

So I can do it again.

Ilhwan gritted his teeth. His vessel could withstand it. He had mastered the tricks, and this was simply another repetition of a path he had walked before. The pain experienced in the process was inevitable, but theoretically, it was bearable.

I will make it work, no matter what it takes.

Directly behind him, a void gate stood, leading into the dimensional rift. If he set foot inside it, he knew the pain that threatened to tear him apart would be gone. Inside, he would be safe.

This suffering, where he pushed all this pressure and pain into every fiber of his being, was a sort of training. He was enduring the pain to increase the durability of his body, pushing past his limits until the muscles tore and tormenting his soul until it was on the verge of breaking as a mana vessel. After all that, he would achieve a little more growth, step by step. It was not so different from progressive overload in weight training.

And so Ilhwan continued, purposefully drawing the mana of the Outer Universes into his body, abusing himself.

Of course, this was kept secret from his family. If they knew that he was doing something so dangerous, they would try to stop him.

Even so, he could not stop. While the war had ended, a new battle had begun, and the enemies were far stronger than before. His son was still out there alone, facing that enemy to protect everyone on Earth just as he had back then.

I know it now...

The kid was all grown up. It was still hard to believe, but it was true. As a father, there were no more ways Ilhwan could help, no advice left to give. His son was a respectable adult and a father himself.

But what difference did it make? Jinwoo was still his son.

And I am his father.

No matter how fully grown or impressive Jinwoo had become, Ilhwan knew no father could simply watch from the sidelines as their son fought to the death.

If he fights to protect the world... I will fight to protect him. That is what I have always done. And that is what I will do now, even at the risk of losing my life. I must master this power and make it my own, no matter what.

As he quietly meditated in front of the gate, his eyes suddenly snapped open.

“Hmm?”

Something in the air had changed. He felt it somewhere beyond the fog.

The dimensional walls were rippling against his skin. This was no skill—it was pure instinct. The Stones of the Outer Gods embedded in his flesh vibrated, calling to something. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

“What is this?”

Ilhwan felt the changes taking place in his body, and he stared beyond the mist with an intimidating expression. It was a feeling that suddenly rose from somewhere beyond, something ominous yet familiar.

“Who is that? Someone’s here,” he muttered to himself.

He could not identify who it was, but he was sure of one thing: If the Stones of the Outer Gods were glad to see them, then they weren’t on the side of humanity.

“I will find you myself.”

Ilhwan did not need to think for long. Without hesitation, he jumped from the cliff.