Solo Leveling- Ragnarok-Chapter 332

It was a sunny afternoon in a bustling city. Right at the center of a wide crosswalk between high-rise buildings, a man suddenly stopped and glanced around. Pedestrians brushed past him, not sparing him so much as a glance. Everyone was caught up in the rhythm of their own lives, hurrying along with familiar urgency.

But all of that was about to end.

The man grinned.

“Is that the place...?”

His lips curved in a faint smile as his gaze fixed on something in the distance. In contrast to the smile playing on his lips, there was no trace of humanity in his eyes. They were inorganic, transparent as glass, and empty. They locked onto the black pyramid rising between the skyscrapers, and in those empty eyes, emotion slowly began to stir. It was fervor, the zeal of a fanatic—the kind of pure, devout madness found only in the most devoted followers of the Outer Gods.

“A foul mana. One I know all too well.”

He sensed an all-too-familiar scent flowing from the dark pyramid. Beneath it, where black shadows pooled thick as ink, a smell he’d known from the outer universes wafted toward him.

“Who knew a passageway like this was possible? Could it be that his domain lies beyond this world?”

He felt sure of it. There were countless dimensions scattered throughout the universe. Some of them, separated only by a dimensional wall, had hidden mirror realms behind them. If the wall was a mirror, then this would be the world on the other side. Perhaps there was even an inner world buried within this very planet. Whichever it was, he had known the moment he saw that dark pyramid that it was the gateway in the wall, allowing access to the other side.

“I lucked out, it seems. I wasn’t expecting anything like this.”

He was suddenly glad he had partnered with that fool, Yuri Orloff. He’d only been looking for a new hunting ground to satiate the butterflies’ hunger, but instead he’d come across the base of operations of the very person he’d been seeking.

The deathly energy wafting from below the pyramid was hard not to notice. There was no mistaking it. In fact, it was so easy to detect that he wondered if this was a trap. But what did it matter? He had remained in hiding long enough, slowly gathering his strength. It had allowed his forces to grow to numbers far greater than when he’d first arrived, all alone, on this planet. He’d also done something else.

“I’ve already figured out all that this planet is capable of.”

Thanks to the other followers of the Itarim, who had been too brash and gotten themselves killed, he had all the intel he needed. The Apostle of Paradise and the Apostle of Evolution had fulfilled their roles. They had come to this unknown planet, tilled the soil, so to speak, in this primitive place, and evolved to adapt to their new environment. Their missions had been about settlement and survival. The Outer Gods had sent them precisely for those purposes.

But his was different.

“The mission I was given is nothing like theirs.”

The man smiled, disdain for the other Apostles dripping from every word.

“My mission is... conquest.”

His name was the Apostle of Domination. The Itarim who had sent him here had been playing the long game from the start. While the followers of the other Itarim went about their activities to taint the planet, this Itarim had commanded his own to hide and grow their strength. Then, once his power reached its peak, he was to sweep away all competitors and conquer this world in one fell swoop.

It had taken a significant amount of time to nurture an army. Now, finally, that time would pay off.

“O Itarim! I have found a world abandoned by its king. In Your name, I shall conquer it according to the mission you have given me.”

His eyes gleamed with holy madness.

With a flash, brilliant wings spread from his back. They were beautiful as they were unnerving, rippling like the wings of a butterfly. People passing by gasped at the sight, but that was only the beginning.

“Come forth, my butterflies.”

The clear sky darkened as thousands of butterflies poured into the air. But these were no insects. Each and every one of them bore his face, perfect copies of the Apostle of Domination himself. The people of the city looked up in terror.

“Wh-what are those things?”

“The sky— It’s full of them!”

“Is it a dungeon break?”

“R-run!”

Everyone reacted differently. Some screamed at the sight of the butterflies. Others ran blindly for shelter, scrambling for their phones to call for help. At the center of it all, the Apostle of Domination rose into the air, blending with the soldiers that resembled him so closely. He looked down upon the scrambling humans with utter derision.

“Let us begin. Our time has come.”

Their wings fluttered once, and a glittering golden powder fell like mist and filled the air with a fog-like haze.

“Th-the hell is—”

“Mmph!”

The people on the streets instinctively held their breath and began to sprint for the buildings. Watching them flee, the swarm of Apostles licked their lips, their expressions identical.

“Our food scatters.”

“Our food scatters.”

“Let us begin the hunt.”

“Let us begin the hunt.”

In an instant, the countless copies of the Apostle of Domination swooped down on the escaping citizens. Screams rang out, and hell unfolded below. The city was reduced to pandemonium in moments. Hunters arrived quickly, doing all they could to stem the tide.

“Backup! We need backup!”

“There are too many of them!”

However, they were badly outnumbered.

The Apostle of Domination, meanwhile, descended toward the pyramid, watching his army wreak havoc below. He then gave an incredulous laugh. At full speed, he slammed into the structure—and passed right through it.

“Is the building an illusion?”

Still, that wasn’t a problem. Even if the structure itself was fake, the shadow energy beneath it was very real.

“I’ll break through the bottom, then!”

He veered sharply downward, diving through the illusory pyramid. There was a deafening crash. But he failed again. It was just a shadow. He landed on ordinary ground.

“This isn’t the entrance? But I can sense it! Right past here!”

It made no sense. Was something else required to pass through the gate? As he glanced around with narrowed eyes, he noticed something that had escaped him before.

“A hidden magic circle...”

The Apostle of Domination had just realized why the illusory pyramid existed. Beneath it lay a magic circle, as vast as the structure itself. The pyramid appeared to serve as a veil, concealing the circle from view.

“Troubling. If I destroy the magic circle, I may be left without a way through.”

He paused to consider, his thoughts instantly transmitted to every one of his copies. Each butterfly spread throughout the city was the Apostle of Domination. As they flew through the streets, hunting the civilians, they began shouting to one another.

“That magic circle isn’t the entrance.”

“I’ve found another.”

“So have I.”

“There’s another one over here!”

The butterflies had begun invading human homes in their attempt to seize the city, and many of them seemed to have discovered what looked like a point of entry. Pooling their findings, they arrived at a single conclusion.

“That magic circle... seems to create all of these entry points.”

These entrances all shared the same appearance, making them easy to identify. They were game capsules.

“I was told that humans nowadays do nothing but lie around all day, making them easy prey. Is this what he meant?”

The Apostle of Domination frowned, thinking of Yuri’s words. The situation wasn’t adding up. How could the entrances to that domain, radiating such clear, unmistakable shadow energy, be scattered everywhere? Surely it would’ve made more sense to keep them hidden.

“There’s a human asleep in each capsule.”

“Give the order.”

Even now, voices from every direction were pushing him for a decision. Hunters had already appeared outside and were engaging his forces in fierce battle. However, the Apostle of Domination hadn’t come to this city to fight them. He came here to hunt. Combat had its appeal, but letting his troops be whittled down for no gain was a needless loss.

Large-scale conflicts like this usually played out in one of two ways. It was either a battle against a small number of powerful foes, or it was a war of attrition aimed at getting rid of the weakest opponents first. The Apostle of Domination preferred the latter tactic.

“Remember your objectives,” he instructed every copy of himself.

All of him understood the words.

“Got it. Ignore the hunters. Eliminate the civilians.”

“We’ll deal with the humans and take the cap—”

“We’ll steal the capsules— Eurgh!”

Suddenly, the voices stopped. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Hmm?

The Apostle of Domination, still standing atop the pyramid’s magic circle, stiffened with unease. All of the voices had gone silent at once.

“Share your senses with me!” he barked.

A rising sense of dread prompted him to peer through the eyes of his other selves. What he saw astounded him. The civilians who had been asleep inside the capsules had now grabbed the butterflies by the neck, annoyed expressions on their faces.

“The hell is this bug doing in here?”

“Damn it! I was in the middle of a dungeon! You don’t interrupt a guy when he’s in a dungeon!”

“Wh-what’s with these humans?”

“How is this possible...?”

The butterflies were thrown into confusion, unprepared for retaliation. The sleeping humans had sensed even the faintest trace of malice from the butterflies, opened their eyes on instinct, and immediately seized them! This spoke to a wealth of combat experience—something they should not have possessed.

One of the most furious humans fixed his gaze on the butterfly in front of him and clenched his jaw.

“Goddamn it! Do you realize how critical a moment you just ruined? Do you realize how many times I died just so I could get myself a name? I had to restart hundreds of times!”

“R-restart...?”

“What? This bug can talk, too?”

The civilian who had leapt out of his capsule swatted the butterfly away with a skill, tore off its wings, then grabbed it by the neck and slammed it to the ground. He scowled down at the creature.

Sure, a monster speaking in the real world was strange. However, he had already encountered plenty of talking monsters in the game, so it wasn’t exactly surprising anymore. What mattered was that a very touching moment had just been ruined.

“What even is this? I finally got a job change and even received a name, and now this!”

“J-job change? A name?”

“That’s right. People finally started to call me by name.”

The man smiled, the emotions of the moment still fresh within him.

“So remember this, even after you’re dead. Remember the name of the one who killed you.”

The player, having just completed his job change quest and earned the reward he’d fought so hard for, smiled as he skillfully ended the butterfly’s life.

“My name is Sung Jinwoo 3124. A fighter.”

A sickening crunch followed.

The Apostle of Domination was left speechless as he realized his butterflies were being slaughtered one after another. All across the city, countless humans were introducing themselves with similar names.