Solo Leveling- Ragnarok

Chapter 196:

A suffocating heat rushed in.

A warning from the senses that far transcended human limits came crashing down.

T-ring! T-ring! T-ring!

[The King of Dragons, the Destruction Monarch, is watching you.]

[The King of Dragons, the Destruction Monarch, is hostile towards you.]

[The King of Dragons, the Destruction Monarch, is...]

[Potions and shops cannot be used at the current location, and your condition does not recover even if the level increases.]

A crisis has come to Suho, to the point where you can even feel the urgency from the system messages that come to mind one after another. 'I didn't think it was going to be easy...' Suho bit his teeth hard and glared at the gigantic burning mountain that filled his field of vision. If the boiling lava had life force and took the form of a dragon, would it look like this? That gigantic light dragon that was constantly burning was the main body of Antares, the Dragon Emperor.

[You certainly have no fear. To think the flesh and blood of the one who dared to scorn me appeared in front of me on its own feet.]

Even though he only uttered it in a low tone, a tremendous pressure seemed to press down on Suho's whole body. Antares. His father's true nemesis, who once waged a vicious war against the Shadow Legion for the longest time among all Monarchs. Indeed, he possessed overwhelming power compared to the monarchs that Suho had experienced so far.

[The King of Dragons, the Destruction Monarch uses 'Skill: Breath of Destruction'.]

RRROOOAAARRR!!!

A waterfall of red flames poured down on Suho like a whip.

'Ruler's Authority!' Suho flew up at full speed and dodged the attack.

A flame that erases everything. An eerie, pure white light barely passed the top of Suho's head.

Shushak!

At the same time, two swords appeared in both hands of Suho, the horn of Volcan.

[Use 'Skill: Storm Slash'.]

Slice! Slice! Slash! Slice!

A fierce storm of blades raged and attacked the body of the dragon, which breathed destructive breath.

ROOARR!!

[It's no use! Are you foolish enough to think the sword made of the devil's horn would fit into this Dragon Emperor's body!]

The Emperor laughed at Suho to the fullest, opened his huge mouth and roared at Suho.

Kyaaaaaaaaaa!

[The King of Dragons, the Destruction Monarch, uses 'Skill: Dragon Fear'.]

RRRRUUUMBLEE!!

The earth howled and the sky shook. No, it was Suho himself who was truly trembling.

T-ring!

['Debuff: Fear' is activated.]

[All stats are reduced by 50% for 1 minute.]

'Ahk!'

How overwhelming. There was no other word to express it other than this. Suho witnessed his hands shaking while holding Volcan's horns. It was a different level of intimidation compared to fighting against the Queen of Insects, the Plague Monarch, Queresha. But 'So what?'

So what do you mean? The opponent is the loser who kneeled before his father. Wouldn't it be dishonoring to his father's name to back down in fear of such a guy? 'Hold it.' Suho tightened his trembling chin, forced himself to show his teeth, and smiled.

Then, barely defying the power of the Dragon Fear, he opened his mouth.

'Now...Are you all watching?'

There were beings who answered him.

[The King of Beasts, the Beast Monarch, is watching you.]

[The Queen of Insects, the Plague Monarch, is watching you.]

[The King of Snowfolk, the Frost Monarch is watching you.]

The gazes of the other monarchs who bestowed blessings on Suho poured on him.

[Hoo?]

Suho wasn't the only one who felt that gaze. The dragon raised its eyes as if he had found something interesting.

Woooosh!

Suddenly, silver powder scattered around Suho, and the illusions of the dead monarchs appeared. Receiving their gaze, the Dragon Emperor grinned and asked.

[What did you do? That you managed to attract other monarchs to your side.]

'I am... I am their priest.' Under the protection of the dead monarchs, Suho answered.

[Priest?]

'Yes. And you'll need one as well so that your heir can inherit your power anyway, right?'

[...The heir who will inherit my power?]

At that, the dragon laughed.

[Couldn't it be that you're talking about making the fool you hatched my successor?]

'Fool?'

Something is strange. The Dragon Emperor sincerely laughed at Suho's proposal.

[It's quite a feat to hatch a Kamish's egg with the magical power of a mere human.]

But so what?

[Do you really think that a bug that has been turned into someone's pet deserves to inherit the power of 'Dragon Emperor'?]

He could no longer hold back his anger towards Suho. And at the same time, he felt immense shame at the weakness of the young dragon, who had been reduced to a mere human pet as soon as he was born.

GRRRR!

The prideful and arrogant Dragon Emperor turned into a huge flame and launched itself at Suho.

RWAAAAAAAAAAARRR!!

[Child of shadows, you shall burn and suffer here forever!]

ROOOARR!!!

At that moment, the whole world turned into boiling lava and swallowed Suho. This is the realm of Antares. If he wanted to, he could have covered the entire space with fire. And Suho had no way to avoid the flames.

'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!'

All I can do is writhe and scream in a terrible burning pain. In order to save him, other monarchs hurriedly bestowed blessings.

[The spiritual body of 'Pet: Gray' is strengthened in the body of the priest.]

Woosh!

Suho's hair turned silver and a divine wind enveloped him.

[Use 'Skill: Cold Blizzard'.]

The Frost Monarch raised a blizzard against the flames of Antares.

[The Queen of Insects, the Plague Monarch, uses 'Debuff: Paralysis Poison' to alleviate your pain.]

Queresha also tried to protect Suho in her own way. In any case, since Suho was their priest, they had to somehow prevent him from being burned to death by Antares. And yet...

[Cease! You shameless bastards!]

Fire!

At the roar of Antares, all those protections burned to the point of futility and disappeared. Antares' anger was directed not only to Suho, but also to other monarchs by his side.

[To think that the one who should have reigned over beings like him chose to submit. All of you no longer have the right to inherit the title of monarch!]

FWOOSH!

His flames deflected the winds of the grasslands and melted even the frigid blizzards. The illusions of the monarchs who helped protect them also scattered and disappeared like a haze.

'Keugh!-' With all help gone, Suho literally fell into the middle of the hellfire pouring out from Antares with his bare body. Iron Body? The toughness skill, which only increases physical defense, was of no use in this situation. His HP level crashed towards the floor without a break. Even the use of potions was banned, so it was a hopeless situation altogether.

However...

...Glub glub.

For some time, no screams came out of Suho's mouth, which was buried in the hellfire.

[...Ha?]

At that moment, a different color appeared in Antares' eyes.

Tap, tap.

One step after another. Suho was slowly approaching Antares, walking on top of that inferno. Of course the pain was still there. His whole body was so hot that he felt like his heart would stop at any moment, nevertheless.

'...This is nothing.'

Change of plan. Suho gritted his teeth with an expression of utmost stubbornness and raised his fist, forcibly holding back the screams that were about to burst out. 'I will kill you before I die.'

[Ha?]

The moment when Antares let out a laugh at such a nonsensical statement.

['Skill: Giant's Armor' is used.]

['Skill: Rigid body' is used.]

Bulk!

Suho, who raised the black energy with full power, gradually grew in size and–

Bang-!

Suho's fist exploded. Antares' huge body staggered.

[?!]

For the first time, a look of bewilderment passed in Antares' eyes. The second that came after, Antares laughed, in a truly refreshing way.

[ha ha ha... Hahahahahahaha!]

He, who was riding on a huge berserker in human form, put his hand on his forehead and burst into madness for a long time. As if there was mana in his voice, Suho's heart thumped along with the sound of laughter.

Silence. The moment his laughter stopped. Antares looked down at Suho with an arrogant smile on his vertically slit pupils.

[How amusing.]

Indeed, he said with an expression as if he had found an interesting toy after a long time.

[Let's entertain ourselves then, shall we?]

RWA!

The huge berserk dragon's mouth opened to chew and swallow the toy.

BITE!

Suho was devoured in one bite. 'Keuk-' Suho managed to support himself with his arms and legs spread out in the huge mouth. And finally, he succeeded in breaking his fangs with force.

Crack!

[Ah! How dare this insect-!]

'Insect?' Suho seemed to like the tone of those words, and said with a smirk. 'If I'm an insect then why don't I give you a dose of my poison?'

Slam!

He slammed down the Dragon Emperor's fangs, which he had mercilessly broken. Then, the countless deadly poisons contained in that attack exploded all at once.

[Use 'Debuff: Paralysis Poison'.]

[Use 'Debuff: Kasaka's Poison'.]

...

[Oh you dare-!]

Venom. Suho hit the roof of his mouth several times with the most ferocious expression on his face.

Bang! Crack! Bang bang bang!

[The King of Dragons, the Destruction Monarch uses 'Skill: Breath of Destruction'.]

...ROAR!

A fierce flame boiled in Antares' throat. It was not enough to burn Suho's poison energy, but it was just right to burn Suho's body burnt black. Even so–

'I'm not dead yet.'

Crack!

[?!]

Even in that excruciating pain, Suho managed to break one more of his fangs. And, using the fangs as a weapon, rather than avoiding the breath of destruction, he chose to plunge it into its throat.

Kwak!

Then, in between, his fangs stabbed mercilessly, and the breath of destruction that flowed through his throat exploded in the middle.

Kwaaang-!

[Aaaaaaaagh!]

Antares struggled, shaking his head mercilessly from side to side. The impact of the breath of destruction exploding inside his body was more tremendous than he could have imagined. But Suho didn't stop there, he raised his fist and struck down the stuck fangs like nails.

Bang bang bang- tear!

He pierced a hole in the giant light dragon's neck, opened the hole with both hands, and forcibly tore it apart.

Fwoosh!

Antares' throat split as if it had been cut by a sword, and dragon blood gushed out like a fountain.

[AAAHH!]

The sound of Antares' screams resonating throughout the sky was exhilarating. But Suho knew that he couldn't defeat Antares with just this amount of attack. Suho was also at his limit now. His HP was also showing the bottom, and he was losing his mind as if he would faint at any moment.

In a desperate moment '!!!' Suddenly, Suho had an idea.

'Dragon! How about I make another suggestion.'

[Aaaaaaaagh!]

'I won't become your priest anymore.'

Whether Antares listened or not, Suho said what he had to say.

'I will be your successor.'

[...what?]

Antares, struggling with anger and anguish, doubted his ears. 'Because Ragnar is my pet, he is not qualified for the title. But what about me?' If the meaning of 'Dragon Emperor' is the King of dragons. 'I'm also the owner of a dragon.'

[!!!]

The power of this insanely powerful Monarch, when Suho experienced it at first hand, how could he not become covetous?

'I will become the Monarch of Destruction.'