Solo Leveling: Ragnarok – 231



Episode 231

The reactions that occur when humans are excessively exposed to mana are broadly divided into three types.

one. Adapt to mana and awaken this ability.

two. Because it is insensitive to mana nothing happens.

three. Either you can’t adapt to mana and you die.

The third thing here was ‘somnia’.

A phenomenon that leads to loss of soul and death.

If the life support device did not exist those who could not adapt to the original mana would have to face death.

In short ptosis is a type of out-of-body loss.

At the same time it was medically similar to brain death so fortunately it was possible to delay time so that the body would not die by using a life support device.

Of course in that state the probability of the soul returning to the body was more than 100 times lower than the probability of a brain-dead patient coming to his senses.

However Suho knew of another phenomenon that was very similar to ptosis.

It’s Mist Burn.

If mana misfits inhale the blue mist flowing from the gate for a long time their bodies will eventually burn turning into mist burns and dying painfully.

This phenomenon was very similar in principle to ptosis but there was a crucial difference.

This is the property of mana.

What the foreign media wanted was invasion.

They may have been planning to burn this dimension to the ground by gradually multiplying the Mist Burn from within the Earth so they sent a terrible poison called the Blue Mist mixed with the mana flowing into the Earth.

Therefore mana misfits who inhaled the blue fog directly suffered from a more serious condition than ptosis meaning that not only their souls died but their bodies also burned.

However even if they were not foreigners there were actually other people who wanted to forcefully kill humans.

“…That is the ‘Bud of Nightmare.’”

Antares continued his explanation with an expression that made him look like he had aged by several decades due to Suho and Ber’s threats.

“In the first place it is not only the world tree that takes root and grows in the sea of ​​​​the afterlife. “All kinds of strange weeds are growing there nourished by the various souls floating around inside.”

Suho’s expression hardened at those words.

“There are weeds that grow using the soul as nourishment? “Then what happens to that soul?”

“What happens? I’m already dead anyway so what more do I have to lose? It will just lose some of the nutrients remaining in its spiritual body and float around again. Of course there are so many different types of weeds that for the more greedy there are some that attach themselves to the soul and become parasitic.”

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“A parasite on the soul….”

Seo Ji-woo’s complexion was becoming increasingly pale next to Su-ho.

This is because the words that came out of Antares’ mouth were stories that could have happened to him.

“In particular Nightmare Bud is a much more proactive one. “They are the ones who go directly to another dimension and directly extract the souls from the bodies of living creatures.”

“Why why?”

Seo Ji-woo was already speaking respectfully to Antares.

Antares seemed to be quite satisfied with the sight and responded with a mischievous smile.

“After all it will be much fresher that way than the tattered souls whose nutrients have been sucked here and there by other weeds. “He’s a gourmet when it comes to weeds.”

“…!”

At those words Seo Ji-woo looked like she had seen a ghost.

Suho asked.

“So does that mean that if you get caught by that Nightmare Bud even if the target is an awakened person you will get somnia?”

“okay. Rather it would be better to be an awakened person. From their point of view the more nutrients the soul has the better it tastes and the longer they can suck it.”

“….”

At this point Seo Ji-woo realized how lucky she was.

No matter how much I tried to recall the dream I remembered in pieces there was nothing I had done in that black sea. I was just struggling following my instincts in a dazed state of consciousness.

Then out of nowhere I got caught in the root of the world tree and crashed into it.

“I wonder what would have happened by now if I hadn’t met the World Tree back then…”

Antares laughed and responded to Seo Ji-woo whose face was now almost like a corpse muttering something.

“Whatever. “It would have been eaten by the world tree instead of weeds.”

“…Yeh?!”

“what?”

Even Suho’s eyes widened at the unexpected remark.

“Why are you surprised? So I told you from the beginning. The World Tree is not the only one taking root in the sea of ​​the afterlife. The World Tree is the biggest weed there. “It’s also a fucking weed planted by the Absolute himself.”

Antares gritted his teeth and muttered as if recalling some bad memory.

Ber who realized what that meant muttered with his eyes shining.

[It is a weed planted by the Absolute…]

“I think the story will be long.”

From here it was a story that Suho had already heard from Ber.

But at the same time it was a story from a slightly different perspective.

Because Antares the king of wild dragons and the lord of destruction was one of the few beings who knew the beginning of this universe.

“In the beginning… there was an ‘Absolute One’ who created our universe.”

“….”

Antares opened his eyes and recalled a very old memory.

Even now the Dragon Emperor still looks like Ragna who is small and cute but his deep eyes show that he has lived for an immeasurable number of years.

“When the Absolute created this universe he planted the World Tree in the sea of ​​​​the afterlife and the purpose was to balance the world.”

“Balance of the world?”

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Seo Ji-woo who had no idea about the inside story tilted his head.

Suho on the other hand nodded.

He had already heard about the war between rulers and monarchs from Ber so he realized something.

“… Did you say that the rulers’ soldiers are born from the fruit of the World Tree?”

“okay. “It’s because of those damn fruits!”

Snapping.

Thinking back to that time Antares gritted his teeth with an angry expression.

“It is precisely because of the fruit of the World Tree that our monarchs and rulers will never ever go to war! It couldn’t end. “If our side gains even the slightest advantage the World Tree will immediately peel the fruit and increase their forces!”

“….”

Seeing the dragon emperor truly angry Suho recalled the vision Ver had shown him when he first returned from outer space.

This is a fierce war that has lasted forever since the beginning.

“During that war we went to war with the armies of the rulers countless times exchanging victories and defeats. In the process endless sacrifices occurred but the war did not stop no matter how much time passed. No it was never supposed to end. “In the first place the only joy of the Absolute was to watch the purposeless war.”

…So if the pendulum tilted even slightly to one side the absolute authority imposed coercive power to tighten the balance of the war again.

Just using the world tree.

“The world tree was overflowing with nutrients. Because the souls who died during the war flowed into the sea of ​​​​the afterlife and gave strength to the World Tree. And the Absolute had the power to create heavenly soldiers from the fruits of the World Tree.”

[And now that the Absolute has died the soldiers of heaven are no longer being born from the World Tree.]

Ber interrupted what seemed to be a longer story in the middle pointing out a very realistic problem.

[Little Lord even as we are doing this more and more foreign forces are gathering from various universes. On the other hand the rulers’ troops are reduced and there is no way to replenish them. This is all because the World Tree no longer bears fruit.]

To Ber the souls of humans wandering the sea after death were good.

In any case it was an extremely natural thing that the world tree nourished souls to grow and bear fruit since the beginning of time.

Because that was ultimately the cycle of the universe and the fundamental principle that sustains this world.

However it was a very serious problem that the balance was broken and we were invaded by outer space.

“What about your father’s army?”

[Of course the king is holding strong. You are recruiting troops by killing Italim soldiers and extracting their shadows as soldiers. However this will only increase the number of miscreants and it will be impossible to extract shadows from the high-ranking Apostles of Italim.]

“There is no shadow to extract like the monarchs.”

[yes. So the longer the war lasts the more disadvantaged we are. However there is no way to make the World Tree bear fruit again. Only the Italim have that ability and the biggest purpose of the Italim from outer space invading us in the first place is the World Tree.]

“I guess so. “The World Tree which grew by sucking all the souls of our universe as nutrients would be the most nutritious food for foreigners.”

“…?”

The flow of conversation slowly went beyond the scope of information Seo Ji-woo knew.

A complex expression full of things I want to ask but I don’t know where to start.

However Suho did not have the heart to answer Seo Ji-woo’s questions one by one.

Rather it is what Seo Ji-woo considers most important.

Together with Seo Ji-woo we focused on waking up Seo Ji-woo’s colleagues who had fallen into sleeplessness.

‘Anyway if we create the divine tree of life everything will be solved. And to find the material the World Tree you have to go to the sea of ​​the afterlife.’

Suho asked Antares.

“So what you’re saying is that if you use that Nightmare Bud you can go to the sea of ​​​​the afterlife?”

“okay. The Nightmare Bud takes out the souls of the living and drags them to the sea of ​​the afterlife. However even if you succeed in going to the sea after death returning will be a bigger problem. Just like this woman experienced we will have to wander around in that wide sea until we find the World Tree. “Maybe forever.”

“Well let’s go and think about it then. Since the situation is complicated let’s do it one by one in order. “Hunter Seo Ji-woo?”

“…Oh huh?”

“Do you still have that double dungeon where you and your colleagues suffered from ptosis before?”

“No it’s long gone now.”

“Did you attack it?”

“no. After conquering that dungeon in the first place I accidentally discovered a double dungeon inside. “And when we got inside the second team found him asleep due to sleeplessness and rescued him.”

“The gate closed after that.”

“huh. The dungeon has already been conquered so the gate is closed. “Irrespective of the double dungeon.”

Later after waking up from hypnosis I asked him that the dungeon was empty without any monsters and only Seo Ji-woo and his colleagues were lying unconscious from hypnosis.

“Hmm I see.”

After gathering his thoughts for a moment Suho looked at Seo Ji-woo again and asked.

“Then can you just tell me where the gate was opened? “I’ll have to go and see for myself.”

“You want to go see it yourself? “The gate is already closed?”

“yes. Even though the gate is closed traces of the double dungeon may still remain. And if I’m right maybe…”

[You are considering the possibility that the double dungeon is a Void Gate.]

“that’s right.”

Suho nodded with confidence at Ver’s words.

“Let’s stop by for a moment before public opinion gives permission to attack North Korea.”