Solo Leveling- Ragnarok

Chapter 193:

'Where am I... what is...'

A deep abyss.

The spirit of Hwang Dong-Soo, who was falling endlessly toward the sea after death, caught a glimpse of a lantern.

'Who am I...'

How unfortunate.

In front of his eyes, the panorama of his life flowed rapidly. Now that he took a better look at it, he had not lived such a great life.

I was born into a family that was a little less fortunate than others, then abandoned by my only older brother for being incompetent. By sheer luck, I became an S-rank villain, but soon after I was getting chased by that damned Choi Jong-In and Woo Jin-Chul!

Then I met 'those guys'.

'The Foreign Religion'.

At first, I thought it was just a multi-level company in the form of a common cult. However, as it turned out, the business they were doing was more diverse than I thought, and the scale was quite large. Above all, if it was for their own purposes, they had the terribleness of not caring about the damage of others at all. But this also gave me more confidence to work with them. It was much easier to deal with people who didn't hide their desires than people who hid their true intentions and pretended to be hypocritical.

In addition, Hwang Dong-Soo, who was avoiding the Association, was in need of various information. In that aspect, the Foreign Religion Church was worth befriending because its intelligence was quite usable. Accordingly, Hwang Dong-Soo willingly joined hands with the Foreign Religion. Hwang Dong-Soo lended them their power, and they give Hwang Dong-Soo information. An equal trade relationship where you give each other what you give and receive what you receive. Yeah, that's how it started.

'Ah, then I came all the way to Yangpyeong...'

From Hwang Dong-Soo's point of view, this request wasn't particularly difficult. To attack the field dungeon that occurred in Yangpyeong without anyone knowing. To be precise, it was a very simple request to wipe out all the monsters there and help the Foreign Protestant Church open the black market in front of them.

However, '...They tricked me!'

Grrr!

Hwang Dong-Soo's spirit gritted his teeth fiercely. It was only after he died that he came to his senses. He remembered what the Foreign Religion had done to him.

A field type dungeon in Yangpyeong. From the beginning, there was a suspicious shamanic formation around it. At the time, he thought it was a characteristic of the dungeon, but in fact, the spell was a trap prepared for Hwang Dong-Soo by the Foreign Religion Church. And from the moment Hwang Dong-Soo set foot there, he was in a beautiful state of being under a spell. Like a mantis caught in a spider's web.

Whenever he was praying fervently in the chapel, somewhere in that great world, the Itarim, a foreign being, would always give him a great revelation.

[Spread the Stardust far and wide.]

[Then a huge door will open in this land.]

[Open the door and the Itarim will come.]

[Itarim will come...]

Ah, the Itarim!

'...I can't believe I was tricked with that bullshit!'

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Hwang Dong-Soo's soul could not hide his resentment. Far below, he could see the afterlife sea opening its mouth at him.

I didn't want to go there.

Why?

Are you angry about being played by the Foreign Religion?

You want to get revenge on them?

No.

A more fundamental reason, he had realized that he had an extremely important mission.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Hwang Dong-Soo's soul opened its mouth and roared. He struggled with his arms and struggled to get out of the terrible sea that was engulfing him. And he eagerly stretched out his hand toward that high place, that distant sky from which he had fallen.

'I can't die like this!'

'I will come back!'

'I am...!'

'I am!'

At the end of Hwang Dong-Soo's desperate gaze, in the distant sky, an extremely fierce battle was taking place even at this moment.

Clash! Break!

Rrrrrumble!

Statue of the Itarim.

A huge stone statue made by Foreign Religions in the shape of the Itarim!

Alongside it, there was a tiny human being fighting a battle against that huge monster!

'!!!' Hwang Dong-Soo looked at his face. He saw those eyes. He witnessed the darkness unfolding in the hunter's hands. Then, instinctively, he realized an important truth, who that young man is. The one whose darkness resembles 'Him', a great being unlike the Itarim!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

[Please save me! My dying soul!]

'Greed' roared.

At that moment, 'Suho', who was fighting with Itarim's statue, turned his head to see him. His eyes found the soul of Hwang Dong-Soo, who was slowly burying and disappearing into the sea after death. He found his desperate hand. Suho reached out and grabbed him without hesitation.

"Arise,"

!!!

"Greed."

T-ring!

[Shadow extraction succeeded.]

[Kuaaaaaa!]

Greed took his hand and raised himself from the sea of death. Then, with the momentum of an active volcano, he jumped straight up and punched the face of the goddamn god Itarim in front of him.

Crack–BAM!

Half of the statue's face exploded and was smashed.

[Ahh! How dare you betray me!]

Along with a tremendous killing blow, the giant hand of the god statue flew and crushed Greed's body.

Bang!

However,

[You dare!]

Greed, which blocked the giant palm of the statue of God with force, slowly emerged from underneath it.

[Greed Lv.1]

General rank!

[Are you trying to trick me, who was once in the Shadow Army?]

[Kieek! You're back, Greed!]

[Greed!]

Beru and Iron cheered as they welcomed Greed's return. Greed recognized them too and his eyes lit up. However, it was not a situation to share the joy of a leisurely reunion.

[Everyone--]

Like Iron, Greed, who returned as a shadow soldier after a long time, instinctively knew Suho's identity. And the role he will play as the strongest soldier here.

[Help the young lord! I will take the vanguard!]

Fwom!

At that moment, all the shadow soldiers rushed towards Itarim's statue along the Greed. And all of those attacks were unleashed on the necklace of the statue that Suho was attacking.

Bam Bam Bam Bam Pwaoh!

Stone Pieces bounced in all directions, and eventually the statue's necklace was cracked. However, Greed, who was the high priest of the Itarim, knew that the statue's real weakness was hidden inside the necklace.

Shugak-!

The nucleus of the statue revealed outside was cut out.

T-ring!

[You have eliminated the statue of the Foreign Religious Church.]

[Your level has risen!]

[Your level has risen!]

[Your level has risen!]

[Your level has risen!]

Crrraaakkk!

Before Suho, who had achieved a tremendous level-up, could be happy, the huge new statue began to collapse on the spot. And the aftermath was directed to the people who remained nearby.

"Ahh!" The surviving foreign cultists, demons, and ordinary hunters scattered in confusion as stone fragments rained down on their heads.

"Protect Grandpa!" It was Greed who jumped out faster than anyone else at Suho's cry.

[Sung Il-Hwan! I'm here to save you!]

"...Hah look at your sudden change of attitude." Sung Il-Hwan, who was sitting on the floor exhausted after pouring all his energy into it, burst out laughing. Then he was meekly grabbed by Greed's arm and got out of there.

[Gwa! Sir are you okay?]

"Ah you already know such an answer."

Blood flowed from Sung Il-Hwan's mouth as he smiled and replied. Seeing that, Greed hurriedly brought Sung Il-Hwan in front of Suho.

[Little Lord! Come on, the potion!]

"!!!" Suho was surprised to see Sung Il-Hwan's condition and took out a healing potion and fed it to him. However, even after receiving and drinking the potion, Sung Il-Hwan's complexion did not improve at all. It was natural. Even though the idol was destroyed, dozens of Star Pieces were still implanted all over his body.

[Kieheek! Sung Il-Hwan!]

"Grandpa! Here drink another bottle! this one too, and this one..." Suho and Beru hurriedly took out all the mana potions and detox potions and poured them into his mouth. However, Sung Il-Hwan was just proud of his grandson who was so concerned about him.

"Haha. There's no need to fuss. This old man is not dead yet, so stop it." Sung Il-Hwan stretched out with an open mind. However, an ominous blue aura was still leaking from every corner of his body.

"Greed." Suho glared at Greed, who was the high priest of Itarim, and asked. "Tell me everything you know. What's my grandfather's condition?" Greed had dozens of Star Pieces on his body, just like Sung Il-Hwan, so he must have known something. In addition, since all the memories of the previous life were returned, Greed knew the most among them.

[Now Sung Il-Hwan's condition is...]

Greed opened his mouth with a calm expression and looked at the Star Pieces embedded in Sung Il-Hwan's body. Shit shit shit. His body was finely cracked around the Star Pieces embedded in his body.

[A Star Piece is an item that causes a rift in the dimension to bring in the magic of the outer universe. In other words, it is similar to a micro-gate.]

"A gate?" At those words, Suho raised his eyes.

"Hehehe." It was Sung Il-Hwan, whose lips were twitching with a shy expression at Suho's words. Over the past few years, he had a bad relationship with Suho, but that was entirely the result of the information each knew.

From Sung Il-Hwan's point of view, he obviously knew that Sung Jin-Woo was a Shadow Monarch, so even if he suddenly disappeared, he didn't have to worry too much. From the standpoint of Suho, the son of Sung Jin-Woo, who wouldn't think their grandfather would be so uncaring upon reacting calmly to their son's disappearance?

However, seeing that Beru was next to him, it seemed that those misunderstandings had been resolved without reconciliation. Now, seeing his grandson restlessly looking after himself after a long time, the feeling of being tickled somewhere was not too bad.

"Hmm. Don't worry too much. I know my body well." Sung Il-Hwan suppressed the corners of his mouth as much as possible and patted Suho's back with a solemn expression. Then he turned his eyes and looked at the gate he came out of. "Suho, let's go inside for now."

"To the dungeon?"

"Yes."

Only then did Suho's eyes turn to the gate Sung Il-Hwan was pointing at.