Solo Leveling: Ragnarok - Chapter 288

Chapter 288

Shuuu-

As the Apostle of Paradise fled, the dimensional rift he had torn apart began to heal itself.

Ber’s eyes sparkled as he confirmed the presence of the apostle of paradise who had completely disappeared.

[He must be alive somewhere. The fact that he is still alive despite knowing me means that he is a species that terribly values his own life.]

The Itarim apostles that Berga faced in outer space varied greatly in appearance and abilities.

This is because Itarim is not one but many.

As the foreign gods served by the apostles were different, the abilities of the creatures created by each foreign god were also different.

Because of this, the nature of the war changed every time new foreign news arrived and entered the battlefield.

From Sung Jin-woo’s perspective, who had to stop them all, it was like endlessly dealing with a huge coalition force that kept adding troops.

But even though they are called allied forces, if you look deeper, there were invisible conflicts even among the Itarims.

They were not on the same side to begin with, but they joined forces for a while because their goals aligned.

They were temporarily grouped together to face a powerful enemy called Sung Jin-woo, but their original purpose for invading this universe was to ‘monopolize’.

Even if by some chance they managed to defeat the powerful Sung Jin-woo’s army and take over this universe, their war would not end.

From then on, the victorious foreign gods will compete with each other to monopolize the vast amount of magic power that remains in this universe.

In the process, this universe and the dimension surrounding the Earth would eventually be torn into hundreds or thousands of pieces, which would drift through the dimensional gaps forever.

[… … That’s why they are good at talking behind each other’s backs even during battle. They send other foreign forces to the front lines first, and then withdraw their own forces to the back to preserve them.

They use mysterious methods to hit each other in the back.]

Ber’s explanation is, in short, a three-way battle.

No, I don’t know if this is the right expression, but it was at least a few dozen battles.

The fact that Sung Jin-woo was able to stand his ground against the endless coalition forces without giving an inch of retreat was also thanks to these factors working in his favor.

“Thank you for the explanation, but could you explain it to me later?”

The situation right in front of Suho was not convenient for him to quietly listen to Ber’s lengthy explanation.

Oh my!

Kwaaaaaaaaaah-!

Even though the Apostle of Paradise had fled, the battle was not over yet.

The apostle’s burned and melted flesh was scattered throughout the city and became fertilizer, accelerating Alfheim’s rampage.

This also had a great impact on the spirits of the cold that were overwhelmed by Sirka’s spirit.

Grrrrrrrr!

The wild spirits of the cold grew so large that they seemed to freeze the entire world, and for the first time, they deflected Sirka’s hammer.

That wasn’t all.

[Use ‘Skill: Breath of Destruction’.]

Boom!

The breath of destruction that Suho breathed out passed through a large hole in the body of the giant spirit of cold.

Rather than burning, it just melted.

Like cotton candy in water.

This is truly an extremely strong combination.

But surprisingly, the large hole was quickly restored to its original state.

Shh …

The surrounding blizzard blew in in an instant, filling the wounds of the spirit of the cold.

The spirits of the cold are not demons, but the season itself.

In the end, the point was that in order to completely destroy them, we had to burn down the winter that had engulfed this city and this instance dungeon.

“Everyone come out!”

Whoaaaaah-

[Use ‘Skill: Monarch’s Realm’.]

A black shadow filled the city, centered around Suho’s feet.

Above it, a legion of shadows rising up in unison, their bodies blazing with crimson flames.

“All hands on deck!”

Euaaaahhhhhhhhhh!

At Suho’s command, thousands of shadow soldiers roared and charged forward simultaneously.

The once-glorious city of villains began to burn down completely.

But what they were after was not the spirit of the cold.

“Those are the ones that Sirka will eat.”

The Guardian and the Shadow Legion aimed elsewhere.

It’s Alfheim.

“We eat that tree.”

Now that we’ve uncovered the mastermind and revealed the city’s secrets, there’s no need to hold back any longer.

Swaaaaaaah!

Wheeeeeeeek!

From under the ground to above the sky.

Thousands of ugly branches and roots of trees, sharply rushing out from the world.

From time immemorial until now, Alfheim, where winter came, has been the elves’ nightmare in itself.

But right now, at this moment.

The nightmare was turned upside down.

[Follow me!]

[That tree is ours!]

[Pull out the roots and cut off the branches!]

Whoosh whoosh!

A crimson flame rippled from the shadow soldiers’ bodies, engulfing the entire city.

Shadow soldiers charged towards Alfheim amidst the blazing flames.

Grrrrrrrrr-

The ground shook under their footsteps, and the entire city melted under the flames they breathed.

Kugu-gung-!

One by one, the roots of Alfheim were uprooted and cut off by the attacks of the shadow soldiers.

A sea of fire spread out above the cold winter.

That was when.

[My lord! Look over there! The roots of Alfheim surround the entire city!]

Berga pointed to the walls surrounding the city.

[I guess he used the corpses of all the dead villains as nutrients!]

As Ber had said, Alfheim’s roots had already wrapped around the entire city like a spider web, and they were sucking up all the nutrients in the city.

Crunch- crunch!

Every time the shadow soldiers cut off a root, the corpses of the villains who were eaten within it poured out.

It looked like a twisted bellflower.

“It was a real flower pot.”

Suho frowned.

It is no exaggeration to say that the city itself was a giant flowerpot for growing Alfheim.

Looking at it again, it certainly seemed that the Apostles of Paradise were more adept at this type of backroom tactics than combat.

Wheeing-

On the other side, Sirka was engaged in a bloody battle with the spirits of the cold.

Boom-!

Sirka’s massive ice hammer split the blizzard and crushed the enemies.

[How dare you… … us… … !]

“Shut up and submit!”

Phew-!

In that one room, in that one room, the spirits’ bodies were shattered into pieces and then reassembled, repeating the process over and over again.

[The King of the Snowmen, the Lord of the Cold, clenches his fist.]

It seemed as if the cheers of Silad could be heard from here.

The fertilizer scattered by the Apostle of Paradise caused the spirits of the cold to go berserk, but the situ

ation was already over.

Before she knew it, Sirka had completely taken control of the four spirits, and now only the last spirit remained.

“It’ll be over soon over there.”

Suho muttered.

Most of Alfheim’s roots were also cut off, and the spirits of the cold were also eaten by Sirka.

Now all that remains is… … .

“Whoaap!”

Knock knock knock!

The moment when the last root, held in Suho’s strong grip, is torn out.

Kugu-gung-!

The wooden pillars of Alfheim fell, splitting the city in half.

A shock wave that shook the heavens and the earth engulfed the city.

But even at that moment, Alfheim attempted a final struggle.

At that sight, Ha-seul, who had come close to Su-ho, shouted with a nervous expression.

“This is a big deal! Alfheim is attempting the ‘Last Harvest’!”

“The last harvest?”

Hasul, who was a harvester, knew Alfheim’s nature better than anyone else.

One of the most important missions I had undertaken when infiltrating this city under the orders of Chairman Woo Jin-cheol was to learn about the characteristics of Alfheim.

Swaaaah!

New roots began to sprout from the burned-out tree trunks of Alfheim, rooting themselves into the ground.

Then, it started sucking up all the nutrients around it at an incredible speed.

The corpses of elves that the villains had hunted were buried in this land.

Let’s concentrate all the accumulated nutrients into one point… … .

“ah.”

The result was also discovered by Suho’s eyes.

The ‘last fruit’ was sprouting from Alfheim.

“Are you trying to give birth to another spirit?”

“That’s right! The final executioner! If that thing is born, we’ll all… …!”

Kwajik-!

Before Hasul could finish speaking, Sirka’s hands were faster.

Sirka grabbed the last fruit and burst it without hesitation.

“Don’t waste time and be born now. You’re the only one left.”

… … !

Looking back, the snowstorm had died down.

Instead, what exists are five giant ice golems standing behind Sirka.

Finally, he succeeded in controlling all the spirits of the cold.

And the moment when Alfheim bursts the last fruit he had created with all his might.

――――――――――!

“… … !”

What emerged from within was not a spirit of cold, but a scream.

A terrifying scream, beyond human hearing, erupted in all directions.

That moment.

Tiring!

[An urgent quest has arrived.]

“under?”

Suho burst into laughter at the sudden quest window.

[Urgent Quest: Kill the Enemy!]

Beings with murderous intent on ‘Player’ have surrounded the area. Kill them all and secure safety.

Number of enemies to kill: 2,918

Number of enemies killed: 0

What are these numbers all of a sudden?

He said that he was surrounded by nearly 3,000 enemies.

There was no sound at all.

“… … Ah, was it because of the fallen leaves?”

As the snowstorm cleared, winter passed away and the land returned to autumn.

As the snow-covered fields melted in the flames of destruction, the colorful fallen leaves beneath them a

lso burned.

But even though they had turned to ashes, the fallen leaves turned into smoke and covered the sky, leaving behind the full effect of ‘cognitive inhibition’ on the land.

Of course, it is only a temporary effect, and even this will disappear soon.

The problem was that in the meantime, there were beings who had heard Alfheim’s screams and had flocked here.

Sigh.

Suho looked around and ended up laughing in disbelief.

On top of the burning walls.

Suddenly, there were three thousand ‘high elves’ standing on top of it, looking down and aiming their bows.

They are also high elves whose skin has been strengthened by hard bark and has been eroded.

“Silard, were high elves originally this common?”

[The King of the Snowmen, the Lord of the Cold, clicks his tongue.]

[The King of the Yetis, the Lord of the Cold, explains that they are half-high elves that were forcibly evolved by the corrupted Elvenwood.]

They also said that it was ultimately the work of the apostles of paradise.

How many flower pots have been created on this land?

“… … .”

Meanwhile, Hasul grabbed the scythe of the harvest with a determined look in his eyes, surrounded by the overwhelming murderous aura of the high elves simultaneously rising up.

And with his other hand, he grabbed the round strawberry cake that Suho had handed him earlier and roughly took a bite.

Even if this is where I die today, wouldn’t it be nice to have a bite of strawberry cake before I die?

But Suho called Arsha as if everything was going well.

“Arsha.”

[Yes. Did you call?]

Wayang-

As soon as he answered, a swarm of bees flew up from under Suho’s shadow.

The bees swarmed in the air, revealing Arsha’s face with a polite expression.

Hasul flinched at the sight, but soon took another bite of the cake.

Now, no matter what happened, he was as if he was going to chew and swallow the cake until his cheeks were about to burst.

Suho ordered Arsha.

“That’s good timing, right? Spray the bees to trace their tracks. And… … .”

[We will find out the location of all the Elvenwoods at the end.]

If you pretend, you pretend.

With that answer, Arsha scattered into countless bees and flew up into the sky all at once.

“And those guys.”

The instance dungeon has already been broken due to the Apostle of Paradise.

But don’t those high elves just give you experience points if you catch them?

Suho smiled, revealing his teeth.

“It was a hassle to look for them one by one, but this is good. Don’t miss a single one.”

[yes!]

The Guardian’s Shadow Legion simultaneously charged forward towards the three thousand high elves, gaining momentum.

And in Sirka’s body, facing so many high elves…

Something strange was happening.

Phew!

A cold air began to swirl throughout Sirka’s body.