Solo Leveling: Ragnarok

[The Shadow Extraction was a success.]

[The Shadow Extraction was a success.]

[The Shadow Extraction was a success.]

[…]

Black shadows writhed upward from the remains of the dragonkin soldiers slain by Astra, the fearsome axe of the Outer Gods. Twisting and flailing toward the sky, the shadows clawed at the ground, dragging their own souls out of the netherworld. Their numbers were so vast that from a distance, the sight resembled a grotesque centipede crawling out of hell.

“Oh, god!” Rio exclaimed, the blood draining from his face at the horrific scene before him.

In contrast, Liu’s eyes gleamed with recognition. Watching Suho, he was reminded of a distant past—of Sung Jinwoo commanding an army of thousands.

“Do not fear. They are on our side,” Liu said.

The shadows radiated an aura of death so intense it was terrifying, but surprisingly, tears of sorrow flowed from their eyes. These were souls who had endured unspeakable torment as the subjects of cruel experiments, who had been denied even the peace of ordinary human deaths. Their grief and despair were unfathomable to any living being.

“All troops…”

At Suho’s command, the shadows lifted their heads in unison and spread their wings, fixing their burning eyes on Siddharth in rage.

“Forward!”

The resurrected soldiers roared, surging into the air toward Siddharth’s dragonkin forces.

Allies turned enemies, as the battlefield erupted into chaos, the two sides clashing. The battle raged fiercely, with attacks descending from above and rising from below.

In the heart of the conflict, Suho and Siddharth faced off once more.

“I don’t need those pawns! Astra is complete!” Siddharth roared, swinging the axe of the Outer Gods with brutal force.

The weapon split the air itself in two, revealing a glimpse of the dimensional rift. Blue mist seeped out, enveloping Astra and amplifying its power.

“Huh?!” Beru exclaimed, his antennae twitching.

It seemed that Siddharth’s plan had been far grander than simply mimicking Antares’ army. He was looking to overlap the rifts.

Just as overlapping three normal gates could create a void gate, the gathering of soldiers implanted with Star Fragments had begun forming tiny rifts in this space. Through these countless rifts, the energy of the Outer Universes had poured in and fused to create Astra.

Beru pointed at the axe, his voice laced with urgency. “Young Monarch! If you leave the axe be, this entire region will turn into a place like the world of the ice elves!” He was referring to the frozen wasteland where Cha Haein and the ice elves had once resided—a dimension torn apart and left in ruins.

“Then I should stop it instead of evading it,” Suho responded, eyes flashing as he summoned more power.

[Skill: “Giant’s Armor” has been activated.]

When Suho activated the skill, something unusual happened. The black flames that sought to consume him merged with the shadow energy, altering the nature of his ability.

Ding!

[Skill: The level of “Giant’s Armor” has increased.]

The armor enveloping Suho’s body grew sturdier, infused with black flames.

Glancing briefly at his enhanced form, Suho charged at Siddharth at incredible speed. The Vulcan’s Horns appeared in his hands, and he unleashed a devastating attack.

[Skill: “Storm Slash” has been activated.]

Once again, Suho’s blades unleashed a powerful storm, now imbued with the flames of the King of Dragons. For a moment, he felt the torment of the flames subsiding as they reached toward Siddharth instead.

“Yes! That’s it!” came Liu’s voice from afar.

Suho smiled faintly, nodding. “I see…”

This was how Liu had extracted the power from his body for years so that the Itarim could not control his mind. Mimicking this technique, Suho was channeling his energy into his skills—and it was working.

This realization triggered the evolution of his skill.

[Skill: “Storm Slash - Level 4” has evolved to “Dark Flame Storm - Level 1.”]

Siddharth swung Astra to counter.

The axe tore through the storm, but this was not enough to block it completely. The flames of Antares clung to the axe, creeping up its blade. They seared Siddharth’s hands and severely burned his body. He screamed in agony.

“Don’t be such a crybaby,” Suho taunted with a grin. “That’s only a taste of my pain.”

Though the brief reprieve from the flames was blissful, Suho was once again engulfed by the fire erupting from the Dragon King’s heart. However, he knew how to deal with it now.

“Que!”

Suho used Ruler’s Authority to step into thin air, climbing higher than Siddharth.

Que, the shadow lancer, flew behind Suho with precise timing, grasping the hunter’s body to speed up his ascent. He swerved, adding momentum to Suho’s attack as they dropped vertically downward.

As the flames began to move to Que’s shadowy form, burning him as well, he ground his teeth in rage—not at his own suffering, but at the realization that Suho had been enduring such pain alone.

However, the hunter remained unfazed, channeling all of that pain into a single point.

“Gather!” Suho shouted, using Ruler’s Authority to bring the fire into his right arm. “More! More! More!” he growled as he condensed the energy.

“How dare you mimic me!” Siddharth snarled, swinging Astra to intercept Suho’s downward strike.

By now, Suho’s entire right arm was charred, with every ounce of the black flames compressed into it. Any sweat that gathered on his body evaporated immediately from the heat. The excruciating pain almost made him lose consciousness, but he gritted his teeth and swung his blades.

“I’ll give you some pain to share.”

With a forced grin, Suho unleashed his attack.

[Skill: “Dark Flame Storm” has been activated.]

Compressed black flames burst forth with overwhelming force, and his sword collided with Astra in a blinding explosion. The battlefield was a blur of fire and shadow.

“What…?” Siddharth’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Astra…!” The axe, infused with the power of the Outer Gods, began to boil and melt where it touched the flames.

“N-no!” he cried in desperation, quickly drawing it back. The axe’s blade began to recover using the mana of the Outer Universes flowing from the dimensional rift. The blue mist threaded over it, smoothing and restoring it as if it had never been damaged.

This was not a crisis averted, however. Suho had already closed the distance through the storm of flame and was standing right before Siddharth.

“Got you.”

With a swift movement, he grabbed one of the guild master’s horns.

Flames surged from Suho’s body into Siddharth’s. The guild master screamed as he began to burn.

“Endure it. Isn’t this the power you wanted so badly?”

Suho smirked as he raised his fist for a crushing blow. He slammed it down, over and over, each strike echoing like an explosion.

Eventually, both combatants, locked in an intense aerial clash, crashed to the ground with a thunderous impact.

Siddharth’s eyes widened in shock as he hit the earth. His body reeled from the force and blood spurted from his mouth.

Even now, however, he had no intention of conceding the battle. Despite the dizziness threatening to overwhelm him, his fierce gaze was locked on the Astra, now floating above him after slipping from his grasp.

“Astra! Kill him!”

The axe obeyed. Its massive blade plunged straight down, aiming for Suho’s back.

“Block it!”

“Protect our liege!”

Shadow soldiers threw themselves in Astra’s path, led by Greed and Iron as they raised their enormous shields.

The axe cleaved through the air like an inescapable executioner. Yet even as its massive blade tore through the shadow soldiers’ bodies, they did not falter.

Greed and Iron were the first to be blown apart upon impact. But fueled by the immense magic flowing from Suho like a tidal wave, they swiftly regenerated and rose again to guard him.

Then something astonishing happened. The shadow soldiers’ regenerated bodies, healed by the mana from the Heart of the King of Dragons, also began to burn.

Antares’ mana, which boiled in their bodies, was a double-edged sword that not even Suho could control. It both restored and destroyed the soldiers, melting their bodies even as it healed. It was as though the power of the Monarch of Shadows and that of the Monarch of Destruction were at odds, and neither side was winning.

At that moment, Greed and Iron exchanged a knowing look, understanding what had to be done.

“Everyone, listen!”

“All of you, charge!”

Abandoning their shields, they launched toward Astra, the burning shadow soldiers behind them. They threw themselves at the blade, which began to sear and bubble as it came into contact with the flames.

Holes appeared in the axe as its descent slowed. The once divine weapon, hurtling down with godlike vengeance, lost momentum and finally scattered into mist.

“No!”

Watching the impossible unfold, Siddharth lashed out, plunging his mutated claw-like fingers into Suho’s side.

Suho’s defenses gave way, and blood spurted from the wound. However, It didn’t matter. This level of pain was nothing to him now. The blood spilling from his side evaporated almost instantly in the flames that still engulfed him, and he remained indifferent to the agony.

Suho’s hand, locked onto Siddharth’s horn, refused to let go.

“Goddamn it! Let go! Let go of me!” Siddharth struck the hunter’s body with his fists, flailing desperately in the flames.

Suho did not counterattack. He merely held on, unwavering.

That was enough. Soon, Siddharth’s frenzied strikes began to slow, noticeably weakening.

“Hmm. Was that all he could do?” Antares, who had been watching from afar, lazily muttered. “Well, an unworthy vessel is bound to break.”

Siddharth Bachchan’s hands, charred black, dropped limply to the ground.

[Level up!]

[You have reached level 100.]

[Job change quest: You have met the completion requirements of “The Trial of the King of Dragons 2.”]

A mystical wind flowed around Suho’s body, and Antares’ flames vanished if they had never been there at all.

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