Solo Leveling- Ragnarok-Chapter 313

Where did it all go wrong?

By the time the Apostle of Nightmare realized that his meticulously crafted plan was flawed, it was already too late.

Even in that critical moment, his eyes darted around, scanning his surroundings. Countless souls were sinking into the boundless depths of the Sea of the Afterlife. In that vast abyss floated the abandoned souls, their faces devoid of expression, drifting aimlessly without purpose.

But this was just the surface of a much darker reality. If he looked deeper, he would see the countless dregs that had sunk below, far too plentiful to count. It was a sight so unsettling that any living being would gaze upon it with a deep, instinctive disgust. Indeed, the Sea of the Afterlife was nothing less than a vast landfill, layered with the rotting remains of the dead.

And yet to the Apostle of Nightmare, the scene was mesmerizing. Here, there was power—power that could make all his desires a reality.

A Monarch was not simply a ruler, but the primordial darkness itself. The title of Monarch meant little. It was the primordial darkness that mattered most

After years of careful study, the Apostle had learned that the World Tree served as a conduit, transferring the primordial darkness to new Monarchs. So he had devised a plan: He would pull the lost souls into his nightmare, disrupt Sirka’s succession ceremony, and become her nightmare himself. By invading her dreams, he would steal the primordial darkness from her.

The Monarch of Nightmare would be a being created through evolution. The ultimate goal was to kill Sirka and take her place, thus becoming a Monarch.

The plan had been perfect—that is, until Sung Suho appeared.

The shadow creatures tore into the Apostle’s body in a frenzy.

“Agggh!”

He cried out in agony. The pain was unbearable, and it felt like it would never end. Scream after scream erupted from his lips.

The void sharks—now shadow sharks—had slipped from his control, ripping into his flesh. Black vapor swirled delicately from their forms. It was a truly horrifying sight, but it was a familiar one. On the battlefields of the Outer Universes, the Apostle had once watched as the Monarch of Shadows, that terrible king of darkness, had brought the same fate to the Apostle’s allies.

He kills, and he takes.

It had been the most dreadful, overwhelming power in that war. Now that same terrible authority was being wielded by his son.

The Apostle felt lost in utter despair as the sharks intensified their assault, biting and tearing.

“How... This is my realm... Agh!”

Is this a dream?

No, it couldn’t be—it hurt far too much for that. The overwhelming pain only made it harder for the Apostle to understand. To him, it felt like a very real nightmare.

No matter how much the sharp teeth of the sharks ripped into his body, pulling away his arms as they devoured him, he continued to regenerate. That was the power he had gained when he became the Apostle of Nightmare. It was an ability that could reverse any injury as though it was all nothing more than a bad dream.

But there was no wishing away the physical pain—this true, blinding agony that continued without end. It was his own extraordinary power that drove him deeper and deeper into this horrible, infinite nightmare.

However, it wasn’t the pain that unsettled him most, but the chaos in his mind. He kept thinking about what Suho had said.

“The Monarch of Shadows... truly rules this world? But that cannot... be!”

He couldn’t believe it. His research had led him to believe that the Sea of the Afterlife belonged to no one. It was not valuable enough for anyone to want it, and there was no one worthy of ruling it here. It was just a place where souls who had lost everything floated aimlessly, forgotten by time.

“Who would want... to control... a dump like this?” he muttered between his screams, his face blank with shock. Blood poured from his mouth, but the wounds healed quickly. He then spit up blood again.

Suho shrugged at him. “Well, I’m just like my father. I’m serious about recycling. It runs in the family.”

With those words, the Apostle suddenly understood. This place belonged to no one, and all the soldiers of the Monarch of Shadows had come from somewhere. The souls drifting in the Sea of the Afterlife were merely raw materials for creating shadow soldiers. As long as one had the power, it was simply a secondhand marketplace where anything in sight could be picked up and used.

“It was my mistake,” the Apostle lamented. “I had no idea... he was harvesting from this place...”

Now that he knew the truth, it felt obvious. He couldn’t understand why it had taken him so long to see it.

“I blame my own ignorance,” he said, readily admitting his own shortcomings. After all, acknowledging one’s ignorance was the foundation of growth—and that, in itself, was evolution. “However...”

Even as the Apostle’s body was torn by the teeth of the sharks and mended again and again, there was no trace of surrender in his eyes.

“I can’t be killed here either.”

At that moment, the Apostle of Nightmare moved. A crackling noise filled the air as he tore apart his own mangled flesh and desperately lunged forward. At the end of his reach stood the World Tree. The swarm of shadow sharks chased after him, sinking their teeth into his body, but he didn’t stop.

“Evolution is my calling. It is the reason I exist.”

Pain meant nothing. Evolution was always accompanied by suffering.

“I see my goal within reach... I cannot give up now.”

“Sirka,” Suho said. He gently lowered her from his arms and met her gaze. “Now it’s your turn. Try to walk. You don’t have to step on the ice.”

“What...?” she asked in confusion.

“Use Elven Footstep. If I can do it, so can you.”

At the determined look in Suho’s eyes, the elf lowered her head and glanced at his feet. He was standing atop the surface of the water.

In that moment, her expression changed. After all, it had been Sirka herself who had once taught Suho how to use Elven Footstep.

It happened just as he had predicted. Even without the ice that the Monarch of Frost had laid for her, Sirka was able to walk atop the Sea of the Afterlife.

Suho nudged her forward, encouraging her. “There. You’re walking. Go on ahead. Go to the World Tree and get the primordial darkness.”

“What about you?” she asked.

“I’ll be close behind. I have to take care of him first.”

As he spoke, Suho turned his head sharply to glare at the Apostle of Nightmare.

“Go on. I’ll follow soon,” he told the elf.

A sudden flash of cold light passed through his eyes.

“Beru. Let’s go.”

Beru screeched, and their figures blurred as they surged toward the Apostle like two streaks of darkness.

“You cannot kill me!”

“I know that. But I can still stop you. You’ll stay here forever, wracked with pain.”

Suho’s daggers cleaved through the Apostle’s body, and the Apostle screamed in agony.

“What’s wrong? I thought you liked nightmares.”

His relentless, brutal assault left the Apostle shuddering in fear.

Meanwhile, Sirka was already sprinting far into the distance, her feet skimming lightly over the dark sea. This place was no longer her nightmare.

[Sillad urges his successor onward.]

Sillad’s message reached Sirka’s ears, and she followed it without hesitation. There was no more need for ice pillars or fragile frozen paths. Using Elven Footstep, she lightly trod over the black waters, racing desperately toward the World Tree. The sounds of battle between Suho and the Apostle of Nightmare grew more and more distant, with the Apostle’s cries fading as well.

I’m almost there!

The faint silhouette of the World Tree was growing larger. At the very edge of the dimension, the World Tree’s majestic form slowly became clearer, as did Sillad’s message in her ear.

When she finally reached the place she had been running toward, a deep, grating rumble filled the air. To her shock, it wasn’t the tree itself she was looking at. Something enormous had wrapped itself around the trunk.

Ah!

Acting entirely on instinct, Sirka leaped to the side. At that very moment, an enormous snake’s tail came crashing down where she had just been standing.

[Nidhogg, the Serpent that Feeds on the Roots of the World Tree]

A massive snake was coiled tightly around the World Tree. It siphoned the tree’s nutrients, never leaving its side, effectively blocking her path.

Nidhogg...!

Sirka’s eyes filled with resolve. Suho had already warned her about Nidhogg, but the creature before her was far larger than she had imagined.

A thunderous roar ripped through the air as the giant serpent, still wrapped around the roots, let out a furious cry. Dark, venomous energy poured from its gaping mouth.

“You must hurry! Find the Monarch of Frost among its heads!” Beru shouted urgently at Sirka, having somehow slipped to her side unnoticed. Suho had sent the ant over while he continued battling the Apostle of Nightmares.

“Eat him, or he will eat you!” Beru ordered. “That’s the only way!”

“How am I supposed to eat something like that?” Sirka screamed at the impossible command.

It wasn’t an overreaction. How could she possibly fight a monster of this scale?

Yet even as her mind balked, Sirka’s body was already moving. The Monarch’s power was finally within reach. She couldn’t give up now.

Let’s do this!

With a burst of speed, Sirka charged at Nidhogg, using Elven Footstep to its maximum potential. Her feet propelled her upward with the giant trunk of the World Tree as support.

The snake’s heads loomed above, blocking out the sky, each one eager to stop her. The overwhelming presence felt like an entire mountain range coming alive, pressing down on her until she could barely breathe.

One of Nidhogg’s gigantic heads shot down like a bolt of lightning. Sirka twisted just in time to dodge, but the shockwave caught her, hurling her into the air. She hit the ground with a muffled thud and groaned. Blinding pain rippled through her body, twisting her limbs.

“Snap out of it! This is only the beginning!” Beru warned.

A wet, slithering sound echoed around them as Nidhogg moved around the tree. Despite her pain, Sirka pulled herself up with all her strength, eyes taking in the chaos around her.

There it is.

She had found it. Among the six heads, one radiated a darker shade than the others. The moment she saw it, she knew instinctively—the power meant for her was inside that head.

With a deafening boom, Nidhogg’s relentless attacks tore out great chunks of bark. The tremors were strong enough to make the entire World Tree shake, but Sirka used the flying debris to launch herself even higher.

Landing atop Nidhogg’s massive body, she fearlessly sprinted along its thick, scaly back. The snake gave a deep, guttural roar.

Her path wasn’t easy. This wasn’t the same as the ice path that had been arranged for her by Sillad. The snake was determined to throw her off, its body writhing beneath her. Its mouths, each releasing deadly energy in every direction, gaped wide, threatening to swallow her whole. The attacks were on such a colossal scale that it felt as though the very dimension itself had turned against her.

Not yet!

Still, Sirka refused to give up. She pushed forward, running along the serpent’s twisting scales. Poison rained down from above and slowly began to taint her body. It was so potent that it felt as though her very skin was dissolving.

But Sirka continued to run. She followed the snake, which had become her path, leaping over its wide-open maws as they snapped at her.

“You’re finally here,” came a voice.

A tiny claw patted her head. It was Beru.

“Well done,” he said simply.

Suddenly, his body swelled, and the tremendous power that had been contained within him burst outward in all directions. With a single claw, he blocked one of the heads that had been flying toward her, effortlessly stopping its advance. Then he grinned.

“Let me give you a bit of help now.”

Beru stared fondly down at Sirka. She had gotten this far entirely on her own.