Solo Leveling: Ragnarok - Chapter 267

Chapter 267

Keel.

The term is also used, unrelated to ‘dragon’, to refer to the central axis of a ship that runs from front to back across the center of the bottom of the ship.

The keel acts as the backbone and main beam of the ship, and the size of the keel determines the size of the ship.

Especially when the ship breaks down.

Other parts can be repaired and used to some extent, but if the keel is damaged, the ship’s life is essentially over.

Replacing or repairing the keel ultimately means completely dismantling the ship.

In effect, it is no different from rebuilding the ship from scratch.

[… … In that sense, what you are saying is that the defensive capabilities of a ship are directly related to the material used for the keel.]

The point of the shadow dwarves who were babbling about the importance of the keel was simple.

“So you’re saying you want to use this entire Elvenwood as a keel?”

[yes!]

The eyes of the dwarves who responded in unison to Suho’s words were already filled with madness.

If there was only one Elvenwood, we could share it, but if Suho could get more Elvenwood, it would be a completely different story.

[There is no reason to waste this precious log on pieces!]

[Again, the size of the keel determines the size of the ship!]

[The strength of the keel is the strength of the ship!]

[If you use one whole piece as the keel instead of sharing this precious material, you will create a truly amazing ship!]

Wow!

Isn’t it dizzying just to imagine it!

A ship made from the sacred tree of the elves!

Even that keel has a special talent for growing itself by extending its branches and eating the surrounding weeds according to its own instinct?

If we were to kill this special guy by sawing him off, even his functions might disappear.

Suho, who heard their earnest(?) request, accepted it without hesitation.

“Okay. Then let’s use this guy as a keel for Essil’s ship.”

[Hahaha!]

[Ugh… … !]

At the decision of the guardian, joy and sorrow were mixed between the chosen dwarves and the dwarves who were not chosen.

Of course, I knew in my head that it was natural for the ship of the king of demons to be taken, but it was natural that my stomach ached at the thought of having this desirable ingredient stolen right before my eyes.

[Then can you give the next turn to our raft?!]

[That’s nonsense! Our ship is the biggest among the rafts! In order to support a keel this big, the more other materials you

have, the faster the production will be!]

“That’s true. Then let’s go next in order of the largest rafts.”

[… … !]

As the decision of the Guardian fell once again, the Shadow Dwarves grew impatient.

[Oh, I don’t have time for this!]

[You lazy demons! Hurry up! We need to gather as many materials as possible before the next Elvenwood comes!]

As Suho set the standard, competition suddenly broke out among the rafts.

[Depending on the level of completion of the ship, the movement speed also differs greatly!]

Finding the World Tree in this vast, dark ocean was as difficult as finding a needle in a desert.

Even if the size of the needle(?) of the World Tree was incredibly large, the sea after death was a vast and vast world that was incomparably more vast than a desert.

In the end, the point was that if you wanted to find the World Tree quickly, you had to risk your life to collect more weeds than anyone else.

[Devils! Risk your lives! If our ship finds the World Tree first, wouldn’t it be better for you?]

[This means that you can become stronger by eating the most leaves first before the other demons arrive!]

… … !

The dwarves’ persuasive provocations ignited a competitive spirit in the demons who had been passively rowing.

It was natural that the more leaves of the World Tree one ate, the more powerful a demon one would grow into.

But until now, we’ve all been drifting aimlessly, picking up weeds floating on the sea.

From now on, if you suddenly receive a powerful keel and start off, you can become stronger than other demons at an over whelming speed.

“Let’s go!”

[Yeah! That’s it!]

[Hurry up, demons!]

Swaaaah-!

… … Well, anyway, it was a very positive motivation for Suho and Eshil.

“Eshil, would you please take a look at this?”

“… … ?”

Suho, who was watching the rafts scattering according to each person’s desire, approached Eshil and handed her something.

The reason Suho visited the sea of the afterlife in person was not just because of Elvenwood.

“My lord, this is… … .”

Eshil’s eyes became very serious.

The object that Suho handed over was none other than the ‘foreign stone’ that was embedded in Fores’ eye.

After Suho wiped out the high elves and spirits, the moment he touched this stone, he felt a strange sense of alienation.

“Somehow, the energy felt strangely different from the stardust and star fragments I’ve found so far.”

Stardust.

A magical power booster developed by the Devil Factory using the demons’ blood poison.

And the stardust is a highly refined gem, a star fragment.

Although they are now called foreign stones, there was a time when they were simply thought of as magic boosters.

But now I know.

The amplification of magical power is only a superficial result.

If you look inside, you will see that the principle is completely different.

[It’s ‘reception’, not ‘amplification’.]

[And furthermore, to enable ‘communication’. That was the true purpose of the Foreign Correspondents’ Seat.]

Grid, once the high priest of the Foreign Church. 1

Iron, who was a priest.

They were now shadow soldiers and on Suho’s side.

Thanks to this, Suho was able to share with them all the information they knew about foreign religions.

[Foreign correspondents are a kind of medium.]

[It’s a medium for injecting extraterrestrial magic power into the human body. It’s not that the magic power has been amplified, it’s just magic power injected from outside.]

[If the vessel breaks and cannot handle that enormous magical power, you will die.]

[That’s exactly why humans who overdosed on stardust in the beginning died.]

Of course, Grid and Iron didn’t know everything about the foreign religion. 1

The reason was that the organization called the Foreign Mission was a thorough guerrilla organization.

And strangely enough, without anyone saying who would come first, they all appeared spontaneously all over the world.

Since it was not a concept of evangelism or missionary work, they did not communicate or cooperate with each other.

There was no need for that in the first place.

It was all thanks to the ‘foreign press seats’.

[The Foreign Mission ‘communicates’ with the outer universe through the Foreign Mission Stone.]

[So there is no need for humans to exchange information with each other, except in very special cases.]

-What about special cases?

Grid answered Suho’s question.

[Sharing research data from foreign correspondents. Only then.]

The existence of the Foreign Mission was the most important goal and means for the Foreign Mission.

How much sacrifice and research has gone into the research that started with stardust, turned into star fragments, and then into the current foreign news stone?

As a result of their numerous studies, the efficiency and purity of the foreign stones they created increased day by day.

As a magic booster, this means that the boosting rate is increasing.

And the race that first led that research was none other than the demons.

This was the beginning of the ‘Devil Factory’.

And they closely exchanged the materials they had researched and developed with other regions’ foreign missionaries, and finally gave birth to a foreign missionary stone that was capable of ‘communication’ beyond ‘reception’.

[The research on the outer stone has finally reached its peak, to the point where one-way traffic can be transformed into two-way traffic.]

From one-way to two-way.

It was soon a revolution.

[Until then, the foreign missionaries could only passively receive orders from foreign gods who came down through the dimensional rift, but from then on, it became possible for Earth to send information to outer space.]

[In foreign religions, it is called ‘prayer’ or ‘sacrifice’.]

Those who communicate with foreign media.

It was the moment when the foreign religion was completed as a religion in the true sense of the word.

The problem was that the god they served was an invader who came to destroy this world.

And since Suho had already heard this information through Grid and Iron, he noticed that the stones embedded in the eyes of the high elves were much different than before.

“This stone of foreign mission… … is not made with the blood of our demons.”

“also.”

Essil’s answer was decisive.

The moment when Suho’s suspicions turned into certainty.

“Something felt strange. While rescuing the survivors, I searched the high elf village thoroughly, but there was absolutely no trace of demons.”

Even though I found three hidden gates and searched them thoroughly, they were still gone.

Even though the entire area was searched, the Devil Factory was not found.

“There are foreign seats, but no demons… … .”

Eshil held the stone and pondered Suho’s words.

The implications were clear.

“It seems that now they can create the Outer Stone without the blood of our demons.”

It seemed like the research that started with Kwangheoltoxin had finally borne fruit. 2

And even with much purer results than before.

“I think I’ve found a substitute for demon blood. And it’s definitely… … .” 2

“It must be someone else’s sacrifice.”

Suho nodded with a scary expression and accepted Eshil’s words.

“Esil. You quickly find the World Tree. And become strong as quickly as possible.”

“yes.”

Eshil succeeded in becoming the next monarch, but it was only possible with the help of Suho.

This did not mean that Essil was still unfit to be a monarch, but rather had a positive meaning.

Essil is the monarch of gluttony.

If the reason for this is because we ate the leaves of the World Tree, what would happen if we ate more leaves here?

Doesn’t that mean we can become much stronger than we are now?

Then, Eshil would be able to unleash the ‘Army of Hell’ and gather all the demons scattered throughout the dimensions.

This means that with just one blow of that power, he can instantly gather all the devil factories hidden by the foreign religions in front of him.

That meant that the locations and information of all foreign religions that were connected to those demons could be found out in one go.

“Let’s cheer each other on. You go here and find the World Tree, and I’ll deal with Nidhogg, who’s stuck to the World Tree.”

Suho left those words behind and departed from the sea of the afterlife.

Solve Nidhogg.

The first step towards weakening the giant six-headed snake was ultimately the same request that Shilad had given to Suho.

[Quest: Request from the Lord of the Cold]

Make the ice elf Sirka, descendant of Shilad, the next monarch.

However, Sirka is still young and weak, so she is not equipped to contain the darkness of the beginning.

Until Sirka can inherit the darkness of the beginning, please stay by her side to ensure her safety and help her grow.

Silad’s quest.

It was ultimately an earnest request to take responsibility for Sirka’s safety from the threats of numerous spirits and Elvenwood.

But there was one thing that Silad hadn’t thought of…

[… … Ki-ek? Why are you looking at me like that?]

Ber tilted his head.

Looking at that pure evil, no, innocent expression on Ber’s face, Suho just smiled.

Very brightly.

[The King of the Snowmen, the Lord of the Cold, realizes that something is wrong.]

But it was already too late to realize it.

Unfortunately, Suho has only learned one thing about how to grow up as a young and weak descendant of a monarch.

“It has to roll.”

[Keeec?]

“I am a descendant of the cold, so I should at least be stronger than an ant larva.” 2

“… … Huh?”

Although she didn’t know what that meant, Sirka felt very ominous.

Cha Hae-in’s expression was visible in Soo-ho’s expression as he looked at himself with satisfaction.

Sirka liked Cha Hae-in very much and followed her like a mother, but not as much as ‘that expression’.

Suho’s expression… was very similar to the expression Cha Hae-in made when he was training them.

“let’s go.”

“Oh, where?”

“Find all the Elvenwoods in this land.”

Suho immediately stormed into the nearest village of other elves.

[Use ‘Skill: Breath of Destruction’.]

With a devastating greeting.

* * *

Meanwhile, at that time.

russia.

An intruder appeared in front of Yuri Orlov, who was drinking wine while looking down at the city from a very tall building.

[Someone broke my flower pot.]

Orlov didn’t seem surprised by the sudden appearance of an uninvited guest.

Instead, I focused on the content of the words and opened my eyes wide.

“… … What? What happened to the terrarium?”