Solo Leveling: Ragnarok - Chapter 266

Chapter 266

Melting darkness.

The endless vast ocean.

Numerous rafts carrying demons were floating on the gently swaying sea surface.

Swish-

All you can hear is the faint noise of the oars pushing against the sticky seawater and the accompanying flow of polluted air blowing against the wind.

‘The Sea of Death’

The eyes of the demons rowing the boat, tracking the scent of the World Tree that must be somewhere here, were serious.

On the surface, it seemed like a peaceful and cozy trip, but in reality, the demons were exploring ‘hell’ in the true sense of the word.

Beneath the raft is an endless abyss.

The countless weeds hiding underneath were just waiting for an opportunity to prey on the demons.

Swaying-!

[Again!]

The moment when the raft rocks violently due to sudden waves.

Hungry weeds burst out of the black sea water, unable to bear their hunger.

But even in these moments, the demons rowed without wavering.

[Catch him!]

It wasn’t the demons who were screaming, it was the bearded dwarves.

Chwaaaak-!

At the command of the shadow dwarves, shadow spiders spun their webs on the raft.

A black net caught the weeds protruding from the sea.

[It’s a moonfish!]

The shadow dwarves chuckled and raised sharp axes and saw blades.

Crunch! Crunch!

Slugging! Slugging!

At the same time, the sound of extension cords could be heard here and there on the quiet rafts.

[Okay, I guess we can double the raft size.]

[You can’t lose! You demons! If you still can’t find your way, why don’t you just go towards the direction where there are more weeds!]

“… … .”

[Tsk tsk. Those silent guys. They look scary but they’re actually really scared.]

“I’m not scared.”

Despite the Shadow Dwarves’ urging, the demons had no choice but to be cautious.

“You keep forgetting, we are not immortal like you.”

[Tsk tsk. That’s too bad.]

“Tsk.”

The demons decided to just keep their mouths shut.

They were hesitant to get angry because they knew that the Shadow Dwarves’ words were not meant to mock them.

The dwarves were truly sorry for the demons.

The fact that they cannot become shadow soldiers because their souls are tainted by demons.

Maybe there wasn’t no way. 2

The fire of destruction used by Suho had the power to purify polluted souls, and if he used that power, it might even be possible for demons to become shadow soldiers.

However, from the perspective of the demons who were still alive, it made no sense to ask Suho to burn them to death.

You want me to burn with the power of destruction?

Then, if the firepower control fails, and the soul is destroyed instead of being purified, who will take responsibility for that?

It would be better to fight and get eaten, that would be just a dog’s death.

Likewise, being eaten by the weeds that lurked in this sea was also a death of a dog.

It was only natural for the demons to be cautious, since they were not just dying, but had their very existence taken away by them.

Of course, the dwarves had a point.

It goes without saying that starting out with a large raft is advantageous for exploration in the long term.

But it came with a lot of risks.

“If you go to a place with many enemies on a small raft like this, you’ll end up stranded.”

The moment the number of weeds overwhelmingly outnumbers the webs of the shadow spiders, the flimsy raft is helplessly destroyed.

There are already dozens of rafts that have run aground like that.

The only good thing is that no demons have lost their lives yet.

The moment the raft runs aground, the shadow spiders of the guardians quickly carry the shadow dwarves and demons on their backs and jump over to another intact raft.

They stay there for a while and then build a new raft to become independent.

The problem was that if this happened repeatedly, the speed at which the raft grew would slow down.

Because we have to share resources.

[Tsk tsk. Finding the World Tree is harder than I thought.]

[That’s right. I thought the demons would find it right away if they just smelled it.]

“… … The sea is so wide.”

Of course, the devils had their excuses too.

“Besides, in this sea, your five senses become dull.”

It was said that this place was not called the sea of the afterlife for nothing.

Not only was the vision dark, but this afterlife sea was dulling the demons’ senses, as if some kind of barrier had been spread out to obstruct their perception.

At this rate, all we have to do is launch a massive offensive to capture the scent of the World Tree.

I literally had to sell my feet.

“… … But I will definitely find it.”

Eshil shared this situation with his subordinate demons one by one, and his eyes shone brightly as if they were piercing thr 1

ough the dark sea.

The reason why Eshil was able to know the situation of his subordinates scattered across this vast ocean was none other than the ‘blood essence’ he gained after becoming the king of demons.

Essil could immediately tell where and what kind of demons were searching for the World Tree.

licking.

Suddenly, Eshil’s mouth watered as he thought of the leaves of the World Tree.

Once he had tasted the leaves, Essil could understand why Volcan was called the Greedy Demon.

And why he became the ‘Lord of Gluttony’.

To the demon tribe, the taste of the World Tree was truly the ultimate taste.

“In the beginning, there was a way to increase the size of the raft in one go… … .”

That is why Essil agreed with the opinions of the shadow dwarves.

It’s a bit risky to gather a lot of materials to build a raft.

And it was more efficient for the monarch himself to undertake such a dangerous task rather than relying on his weak demon subordinates.

Essil had already been at the forefront since the start, hunting for them in areas with lots of weeds.

Now, the weeds had become so clever that they avoided Essil’s raft whenever they saw it.

[Hmm. The weeds aren’t showing up at all.]

Essil nodded at the dwarf’s words and focused all her senses on finding the sounds of the weeds.

But all that came back was quiet silence.

Eshil clicked his tongue.

“Clever bastards.”

[At this rate, our ships will never be able to go beyond the level of rafts, let alone battleships. I wish a big one would pop out… … Keuk?!]

“… … ?!”

at that time.

Phew!

Suddenly, a sharp object came out of the middle of the chest of the shadow dwarf who had been muttering next to Eshil.

Essil, who was surprised, soon realized what it was and her expression brightened.

[Use ‘Item: Shadow Key’.]

Swish!

A hole opened inside the Shadow Dwarf’s body, centering around the key, and a Shadow Gate opened.

And then Peekaboo.

[Devils of Hell! Are you doing well!]

Ver’s solemn gaze, which had emerged from the gate that had been breached by the Shadow Dwarves, sharply scanned Essil’s surroundings.

And when he saw the size of the demons’ raft, he shouted.

[Keeeek! You lazy bastards! Why are your bellies still this big!]

“What can we do? The materials are all hiding because they’re scared of us.”

Eshil grumbled and replied.

“I could just dive in and catch them myself, but that would be too dangerous for my men. The weeds are just fighting each other, hoping we’ll do the same. There’s a limit to how much I can catch and share.”

[Tsk. I knew you would do this, so our little lord came to personally solve your problem.]

“what?”

[So be thankful and worship.]

In front of Eshil, who was tilting her head, Suho appeared through the shadow gate.

But he wasn’t empty-handed.

Swish-

“What, what is this tree?!”

Essil was terrified.

Suho used his incredible strength to drag a large, thick wooden pillar out of the gate!

“Elvenwood.”

… … ?!

At that answer, the expressions of all the shadow dwarves nearby were filled with shock.

[Eh, Elvenwood?!]

[The sacred tree of the elves… …!]

with a splash!

As Suho threw the charred ‘Elvenwood Fragment’ onto the Sea of Afterlife, it floated up onto the black sea.

For convenience’s sake, it was called a fragment, but since Suho had personally cut off all the roots and pulled out only the pillars, its size was enormous.

The scale alone made the rafts the demons were riding look shabby in an instant.

The demons and dwarves looked at the guardian in astonishment.

[Wow! As expected, it’s our master!]

[How did you get this precious wood?!]

“What do you think? I brought it all here because I felt it would be a waste to just burn it. Do you think it could be used as raft material?”

[It couldn’t be better!]

Ooooooh!

The shadow dwarves responded to Suho’s words with cheers.

And he looked at the fragments of Elvenwood with eyes burning with greed.

And without saying who would go first, they all jumped up on top with saws and hammers.

No matter how big it was, it was just one tree.

If we don’t hurry, we’ll lose those precious materials to other rafts.

“Oh, be careful. That tree is still fresh.”

Swish!

[… … Huh?!]

“Oh, I’m late.”

Before the Guardian could finish speaking, the twigs attached to the Elvenwood fragments pierced the bodies of the shadow dwarves.

But they were immortal soldiers from the beginning.

Even though their bodies were impaled on sharp tree branches like skewers, the shadow dwarves continued sawing diligently.

Then they lifted the Elvenwood branches stuck in their bodies like trophies and burst into hearty laughter.

[Khahaha! What an honor!]

[I never thought that the day would come when I would touch the sacred tree of the elves in my lifetime! Of course, I am al

ready dead!]

[If I had done this while I was alive, that day would have been the day I died! Hehehehe!]

The shadow dwarves couldn’t help but be very excited.

It had to be that way.

Elvenwood!

How many dwarves have actually touched this precious elven sacred tree?

Probably the rarest in all of Dwarven history!

Even he would have obviously just gotten lucky and gently touched the shell.

It was unimaginable that such a sacrilegious act of sawing could be committed at this time.

How cruel and tenacious are those noble elves!

The spirits were beyond words.

But now they themselves have cut down that precious tree with a saw!

It was such an embarrassing thing that I wondered if it was okay for it to happen like this.

[My saw is hitting the jackpot today!]

[Building a ship using the elves’ sacred tree?]

[That’s a ship that adventures through the afterlife sea?!]

[Wow! This is romance!]

[My dwarf life, I would die today without any regrets! Of course, I’m already dead! Hahaha!] 4

Ordinary materials quickly decay when exposed to the deadly air and seawater that flow through the afterlife.

But for wood as heavy as Elvenwood, it would be blasphemous to even call it an ordinary material.

But something was strange.

[Hmm. But was Elvenwood originally like this?]

Although they had heard a lot about Elvenwood, this was their first time seeing it in person.

There was something very strange about the Elvenwood that Suho brought.

The energy felt is also like that.

There was something very ominous about the way they were constantly flapping their branches, trying to attack us.

[I heard it was very spiritual.]

[If this continues, isn’t it no different from… … a tree-shaped demon?]

“no.”

Eshil glared at Elvenwood with a stiff expression, refuting the dwarves’ words.

The other demons had similar expressions.

“This tree is the sacred tree of the elves? It feels too similar to the weeds here.”

“You see it too, don’t you?”

Suho nodded in agreement with Eshil’s words.

“I felt this way while fighting directly, but this Elvenwood feels like something between the weeds of the afterlife and the world tree.”

That was the custom of Elvenwood that Suho had personally experienced.

When Suho told Essil about what had happened to him, Essil muttered with a serious expression.

“Are you saying that… … the weeds of the afterlife were eating not only our demons, but also the elves?”

“Nobody knows the exact details. But it’s somewhat similar, just in a different way, right?”

Difference in method.

Hunting them yourself and raising them to eat.

If the weeds of the afterlife become the inhabitants of the niches, hunting and eating demons.

It seemed plausible enough that Elvenwood, which had been slowly growing and eating the elves, was at first a weed of the afterlife.

Even the process was similar.

If the weeds of the afterlife evolve by eating the ‘dead souls’.

Elvenwood grows by coexisting with ‘spirits’.

“… … It’s certainly similar. Especially in that they must struggle for survival forever. If the fate of the creatures that the ‘Absolute’ wants is for the warriors who become stronger to be thrown into war against the rulers, then it’s even more so.”

Eshil felt a little goosebumps as she learned the truth about a world she had never known before.

And it didn’t really matter whether Elvenwood’s roots were weeds or not.

In the end, what the now dead and non-existent Absolute Being wanted was to witness the never-ending war between creatures, and Elvenwood was an accessory that fully suited that Absolute Being’s purpose.

[But now it has become our great timber.]

Be that as it may, it was a giggling Ber.

And the shadow dwarves who were happily chopping down the Elvenwood looked at the guardian and asked.

[Master, where did you get this Elvenwood?]

“why?”

Suho noticed their greedy gazes and replied with a sly smile.

“Do you want more?”

[Is that possible?!]

The dwarves were startled by those words and went wild, shouting one after another.

[Look at the survivability of this Elvenwood!]

[It is so poisonous that even at this very moment, it is extending its branches and directly catching weeds hidden in the sea!]

[If we actively utilize this principle, it is not a dream to create a post-war battleship that can repair itself!]

“surely.”

Suho was also watching Elvenwood’s branches wriggling.

And he nodded at the dwarves’ bright eyes.

“I can give you as many as you want. Enough to make all your rafts out of Elvenwood.”

[Huh?!]

Yeah… … . There were so many that it was a problem.