Solo Leveling- Ragnarok-Chapter 322

Some time before, the demons had finally discovered the World Tree in the Sea of the Afterlife.

“We’ve done it! We’ve found it!”

Surprisingly, it wasn’t the demons who were the most overjoyed—it was the shadow dwarves.

“Hahaha! Who would’ve thought this would actually work?”

“To think we’d really find the World Tree!”

“I can die happy now! But then again, we’re already dead, aren’t we? Ah, well! Hahaha!”

They celebrated like children, cheering and teary-eyed. They felt genuinely grateful to Suho, who had allowed them to achieve something so remarkable even after death had taken them.

“What is this talk about death? You weaklings! Get it together!”

Among the shadow dwarves, one was far more ambitious than the others. He was the great bearded craftsman who had created the ship Álfheimr, the vessel belonging to the Monarch of Gluttony. His soul had long since passed the point of being satisfied by what they had accomplished. Perhaps it was because he had been exposed to too much tempting ambition even after death. Now his soul had become a blazing embodiment of desire, just like his wavering, shadowy beard.

“Do you call yourselves dwarves? You should be ashamed of yourselves!”

He reprimanded those of his race with something close to outrage.

“We’ve found the World Tree. Who are we but artists and craftsmen? The next thing we ought to do is discuss what we will make with it!”

The celebrating dwarves felt as if lightning had struck them. Their beards, laced with dark vapor, practically stood on end.

“I-I see!”

“Our mistake!”

The dwarves responsible for the grandest ship of all were certainly capable of grander dreams.

“We are blacksmiths!”

“We are blacksmiths who have overcome the Sea of the Afterlife!”

“We’ve worked with the divine trees of the elves, no less!”

We are master craftsmen!

That single phrase was enough to summarize every trial they’d endured, as well as the grandeur of their accomplishments.

Suddenly, their tears and celebratory shouts ceased. The World Tree, a cosmic marvel spoken of only in legends, stood right before their eyes. The next step was easy enough to figure out. All of the shadow dwarves, with fierce, blazing passion radiating from their bodies, stared at the World Tree and grinned.

“Shall we get started?”

The tree soared so high they couldn’t see its top.

What shall we make with it?

No one voiced the question aloud, but they were all thinking it.

“A fortress.”

“We’ll build a fortress.”

“This will be our base of operations!”

They went wild. Each reached for their tools, unified by the same goal. There was no need to discuss. They had worked together long enough to understand each other without words. Like they shared a consciousness, they scattered across the tree, each choosing a role.

“We have plenty of material!”

“We’ve found the World Tree! No need to expand the fleet anymore!”

“Bring over all the leftover Elvenwood timber!”

“Pull out the weeds too!”

“There’s no point in conserving anymore!”

Shouts rang out everywhere, and they began to work in perfect harmony.

“You there! Demons! We need more resources! We’re turning this tree into a grand harbor, so get to it!”

The demons had no time to bask in the glory of finding the World Tree before they were once again roped into errand duty by the dwarves.

The construction work proceeded rapidly. Having a permanent stronghold, rather than drifting aimlessly through the sea, made an enormous difference. Soon a harbor for the demon fleet was built around the World Tree. Defensive structures followed, protecting the harbor from the Residents of the Rift and the sea’s predatory weeds.

Then came the real task.

“Now, how should we structure this?”

“This must make it clear to all that we’ve conquered the World Tree!”

“Hahaha! I’ll handle this side!”

“Ah! Excellent idea! Then I’ll start building a proper staircase!”

“Just wait! I have people over here sawing up the bark as we speak!”

“Marvelous! This might be the World Tree, but sawing the bark should be an easy task!”

Esil stood amid the chaos that had broken out, staring blankly as she took in the scene around her.

What are these dwarves doing to the World Tree?

But Esil was already familiar with the sort of creatures they were. She wasn’t so much confused as she was concerned. They were creatures of pure efficiency. They never made anything that wasn’t useful.

And that means...

There was probably a reason they had decided to build a fortress so quickly. Armed with this knowledge, Esil lifted her gaze sharply toward the sky. The World Tree’s trunk stretched so high, it seemed to pierce the heavens.

Somewhere up there...

“So it’s already noticed.”

Her eyes glinted dangerously. Esil was the demon ruler who had formally inherited the primordial darkness through the rite of succession. This meant she could instinctively sense the eyes watching from high above—fixed intently in their direction.

Swallowing dryly, Esil had no choice but to rally the dwarves and all the demons assisting them.

“Hurry,” she said.

The tree was starting to rumble.

“Nidhogg is coming.”

The massive snake, which held no less than five instances of the primordial darkness, had escaped to the high reaches of the tree to avoid the cold Sirka had generated. But there was one thing it could never abandon, no matter how much it feared the cold—the tree’s roots. That monster was not one to sit still while creatures gathered at the base of the World Tree.

“Quickly! Prepare all mana cannons! We need to keep it from getting down here!”

Thus began the fierce struggle between the demons, trying to hold the line, and Nidhogg, descending upon them. A roar echoed in the air.

“S-stop that creature!”

It was obvious from the start that they were badly outmatched. They couldn’t hope to fight something like Nidhogg on equal footing. However, the crisis also presented an unexpected opportunity.

As the immense snake descended along the trunk, it snapped smaller branches. With every movement, leaves from the World Tree fluttered down like snow. The demons ate them, growing stronger in direct proportion to the leaves they consumed.

“Eat them all!” shouted Esil, their ruler. “Eat and grow stronger!”

“For Radiru!”

“For the revival of our race!” 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

With Esil Radiru’s blessing, the demons gained strength at an astonishing pace, fighting with everything they had to keep Nidhogg at bay.

Then a message arrived from Suho.

***

The heavens and the earth shook. The waters of the Sea of the Afterlife, previously utterly still, lurched and wobbled. Even the roots of the towering World Tree shook under the impact.

Around the base of that tree, a tremendous battle was raging. Nidhogg howled. With its enormous tail, it gripped the World Tree’s trunk as its five heads, maws open wide, unleashed one attack after another. A powerful breath attack split the black sea. Waves surged in response, and the monsters drifting below screamed as they were caught in the shockwaves.

Nidhogg’s thrashing was a disaster all of its own. Every time it moved, branches snapped and fell, causing World Tree leaves to scatter and drift in all directions. However, most of those leaves were sucked straight into Nidhogg’s mouths, only filling its monstrous belly.

“Hahaha! I love it! This is amazing!”

Even as he faced the terrifying creature, Ammut couldn’t stop laughing. How could he? It had been far too long since his blood had coursed so hotly through his veins. He welcomed the chance to battle such a formidable abyssal beast. It wasn’t because he was vastly stronger than Nidhogg. In truth, the outcome of the fight didn’t concern him in the slightest. The joy of combat filled him, and he relished it like a child playing a game. With every blow, he gave it his all.

I was powerful the moment I was born.

The Crocor were the strongest of the monstrous humanoids, and to them, overwhelming strength was a basic attribute. They had no such thing as natural enemies. They were a race built for battle, and the moment they entered the world, they were invulnerable. Had they possessed the ability to multiply quickly, the very balance between the Rulers and the Monarchs might have shifted forever.

The Absolute Being who had created them all, however, would never allow such a thing. The Absolute Being didn’t seek an end to war, but for war itself to continue forever. And so despite their overwhelming power, the Crocor were born with a fatal flaw. That flaw was growth. Because they were born strong, they had no need to grow stronger. In fact, no matter how much they tried, enhancing their power was impossible.

To the Crocor, “growth” was a term used by the weak. The process through which the weak struggled to survive and through which achieved a tiny boost to their might was a pitiful thing to them. The concept of growth meant something completely different to this race.

The Crocor were born with their strength already complete, so growth only meant growing old—in other words, growing weaker, and slowly dying. Even a race as mighty as theirs had limited lifespans, so for them, growing meant inching closer to death.

Then one day, Ammut had begun to observe the weak grow stronger. It started as a curiosity. He had been intrigued by how it worked, since his race was already at maximum power. He tried tormenting them just a little, just to see how much progress they could make. It seemed to increase their speed just a little, and he found, to his surprise, that it was extremely entertaining.

So he pushed them further. When the weak grew strong, he brought in slightly stronger enemies to challenge them. What started out as a joke soon turned into a methodical experiment. After countless such experiments, he eventually came to genuinely envy them. He began to feel jealousy toward the weak, who clawed their way to strength.

He simply couldn’t make sense of it. How could one of his race envy a weaker being? Nonetheless, it was inevitable. He had no opponent he could fight so desperately. Even if there was, it would not do him any good. Such was the divine penalty issued to the Crocor by the Absolute Being. Because of that, Ammut had never once, in his entire life, fought with his full strength.

This was the first time he had encountered a situation like this.

The snake roared once more, and Ammut cackled like a madman. The fact that he was breathless was exhilarating. To think he would face an opponent he could not simply overpower, no matter how hard he tried!

So when Nidhogg’s massive form hurled him aside, Ammut could only laugh with joy. The pain meant nothing to him. In fact, he welcomed it. What could be more thrilling than fighting an enemy that wouldn’t break no matter how many times he threw himself at it?

“Are you there?” he called out, his grin widening.

As one of Nidhogg’s huge heads came at him again, Ammut stared straight into its open jaws—or rather, at the presence of someone very familiar inside. It was a being who had once been his pupil, the weakest outcome of all his trials and experiments. The primordial darkness that had once belonged to the Monarch of Iron Body, Tarnak, stared furiously at Ammut from within Nidhogg’s mouth. In those eyes, Ammut could feel the sting of humiliation.

“You dare to judge me?”

He knew, of course, that Tarnak was long dead. What he saw now was nothing more than the darkness he had left behind. Even so, it offended Ammut all the same.

“Show yourself! I’ll crush you underfoot like I did in the past! It’s been far too long!”

No sooner had he spoken than the darkness surged forward to engulf him. From its edge, the figure of a man appeared. He gazed down at Ammut arrogantly.

Ammut gave a grunt of approval, and without hesitation, he lunged at his new enemy, not so unlike the weak beings who had so foolishly attacked him long ago.