Solo Leveling: Ragnarok – 266



Episode 266

Melting darkness.

It’s endless and vast.

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

Shoot ah-

All you can hear is the faint noise made by the oars pushing out the sticky sea water and the resulting flow of polluted air blowing against them.

‘Sea of ​​Death’

The eyes of the demons rowing their oars tracking the scent of the World Tree somewhere here were serious.

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

Beneath the raft is an endless abyss.

Numerous weeds lurking underneath were waiting for an opportunity to prey on the demons.

Sloshing-!

[Again!]

The moment when the raft is rocked violently by a sudden wave.

Starving weeds couldn’t hold back their hunger and jumped out of the black sea water.

But even at these moments the devils rowed without wavering.

[Catch it!]

It was not the devils who shouted but the bearded dwarves.

Chuaaaaaaaaa!

At the shout of the shadow dwarves the shadow spiders spread their webs on the raft.

A black net caught weeds sticking out of the sea.

[What a big hit!]

The shadow dwarves laughed and raised their sharp axes and saw blades.

Kwasik! Kwasik!

Slut! Slut!

At the same time the sound of tools being used could be heard here and there on the quiet rafts.

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[good! At this level we can double the size of the raft!]

[You can’t lose! Devils! If you can’t find your direction yet why not go in the direction where there are more weeds!]

“….”

[Tsk tsk. Silent guys. These guys look scary and have a lot of fear.]

“I’m not scared.”

Despite the urgings of the shadow dwarves the demons had no choice but to be cautious.

“I keep forgetting but we are not immortal like you.”

[Cluck. That’s a shame.]

“Tsk.”

The demons decided to just keep quiet.

They knew that the shadow dwarves’ words did not mean to ridicule them so it was difficult to get angry.

The dwarves truly felt sorry for the demons.

The truth is that demons cannot become shadow soldiers because their souls are polluted.

Maybe there was no way.

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

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

Do you want me to be burned by the power of destruction?

Then the moment you fail to control the fire power and the soul disappears rather than being purified who will be responsible for that?

It would be better to fight and get eaten. That would have been just a dog’s death.

Likewise being eaten by the weeds lurking in this sea was also fatal.

It was only natural for the demons to be cautious because they didn’t just die but their very existence was taken away by them.

Of course what the dwarves said made sense.

It is natural that starting off with a larger raft from the beginning is advantageous for exploration in the long term.

But I had to take that much risk.

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

The moment the number of weeds attacking the shadow spiders becomes overwhelmingly greater than the net material this crude raft is helplessly destroyed.

There are already dozens of rafts that have stranded like that.

Fortunately no demons have lost their lives so far.

This is because the moment the raft runs aground Guardian’s Shadow Spiders quickly jump over to another intact raft with shadow dwarves and demons on their backs.

They stay on it for a while and build a new raft to become independent.

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

Because we have to share resources.

[Tsk tsk. Finding the World Tree is harder than you think.]

[I know. I thought demons would find me right away if they smelled it.]

“…the sea is too wide.”

Of course the devils also had excuses.

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

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This is not the sea of ​​the afterlife for nothing.

In addition to the dark vision this afterlife sea was dulling the demons’ senses. It’s as if there is a barrier blocking perception.

At this point there is just a massive offensive to capture the scent of the World Tree.

I literally had to do my best.

“…Still I will definitely find it.”

As Eshil shared this situation with his demon subordinates his eyes brightened as if he could see through the dark sea.

The reason Esil was able to know the situation of his subordinates scattered across this vast ocean was none other than the ‘blood passion’ he awakened when he became the king of the demons.

Esil could immediately tell where and which demons found the World Tree.

licking.

When Esil suddenly remembered the leaves of the World Tree he whetted his appetite.

Once Esil had tasted the leaf he could understand why Volkan was called a greedy devil.

And why he became the ‘Lord of Gluttony’.

For the demon race the taste of the World Tree was truly the ultimate taste.

“It’s a way to increase the size of the raft in one go…”

Therefore Esil agreed with the opinions of the shadow dwarves.

Even if it means taking some risks get plenty of materials to expand the raft.

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

Eshil had already been at the forefront since the start going from places with a lot of weeds to hunt them down.

Now the weeds were clever enough to avoid Esil’s raft whenever they saw it.

[hmm. Weeds never appear.]

Esil nodded at the dwarf’s words and focused all his senses on the sign of the weeds.

But all that came back was still silence.

Eshil clicked his tongue.

“Smart guys.”

[If this continues our ship will never be able to escape the level of a raft let alone a battleship. It would be nice if at least one big guy came out… Huh?!]

Phew!

“…?!”

at that time.

Suddenly there was a sharp object sticking out from the center of the chest of the shadow dwarf who was grumbling at Esil’s side.

Esil who was surprised soon realized its identity and his expression brightened.

[Use ‘Item: Shadow Key’.]

Shwaaak!

Centering the key a hole opened in the shadow dwarf’s body and the shadow gate opened.

And pakkkom.

[Demons of hell! Are you doing well!]

Ber’s solemn eyes peered out from the gate opened by the shadow dwarves scanning the surroundings of Esil sharply.

And when he saw the size of the devils’ raft he shouted.

[Keeeeek! These lazy things! Why is the ship still this big!]

“What can I do? “The ingredients hid because they were scared of us.”

Esil grumbled in response.

“I can just dive down and catch it myself but it’s too dangerous for my men. In the first place the weeds are just fighting with each other hoping that we will do the same. “There are limits to what I can catch and distribute individually.”

[Tsk. Knowing that you would be like this our Solord personally came to solve your problem.]

“what?”

[So give thanks and worship.]

Suho appeared through the shadow gate in front of Esil who tilted his head.

But he was not empty-handed.

Sooooook-

“What is it? “What about this tree?!”

Eshil was shocked.

Suho dragged a large thick wooden pole out of the gate with his incredible strength!

“It’s Elvenwood.”

…?!

At that answer the expressions of all the shadow dwarves next to him filled with astonishment.

[Elvenwood?!]

[The sacred tree of the elves…!]

with a splash!

When Suho threw the charred ‘Fragment of Elvenwood’ onto the Sea of ​​Death it floated on the black sea.

For convenience it was called a fragment but it was enormous because Suho personally cut off all the roots and pulled out only the pillars.

The scale alone was enough to make the rafts the demons were riding on look shabby in an instant.

The demons and dwarves looked at Suho in astonishment.

[Big! After all he is our master!]

[How did you obtain this precious wood?!]

“how is it? “I thought it would be a waste to just burn it so I brought the whole thing but do you think we can use it as raft material?”

[There is no better!]

Ooooh!

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

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

And without even knowing who was first they all jumped on top of it holding saws and hammers.

No matter how big it was there was only one tree.

If you don’t hurry you’ll lose those precious ingredients to other rafts.

“Oh be careful. “The tree is still fresh.”

Shwaaak!

[…Huh?!]

“Oh is it already too late?”

Before Suho could finish his words the twigs attached to the fragments of Elvenwood pierced the bodies of the shadow dwarves.

But they are immortal soldiers to begin with.

Even though their bodies were pierced like skewers by deadly tree branches the shadow dwarves worked hard to saw them off.

Then they burst into laughter lifting the Elvenwood twigs stuck in their bodies like trophies.

[Kuh-huh! Is there such an honor?]

[I never thought the day would come when I would personally touch the sacred tree of the elves! Of course he’s already dead!]

[Maybe even if I had done something like this when I was alive that would have been the day I died! Hehehe!]

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 sacred tree of the elves?

There were probably very few of them in all of dwarven history!

Even he must have been lucky enough to just touch the shell.

The blasphemous act of sawing like now was unthinkable.

How cruel and persistent the elves are!

The spirits had nothing to say.

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

It was such a sad thing that I wondered if it was okay to do this.

[My saw is making a fortune today!]

[Making a ship with elves’ sacred wood?]

[A ship that ventures into the sea of ​​the afterlife?!]

[Kya! This is romance!]

[My dwarf life has no time left even if I die today! Of course he’s already dead! LOL!]

Ordinary materials quickly deteriorate when they come in contact with the deadly air and sea water flowing in the sea of ​​the afterlife.

However it was blasphemous to even call Elvenwood an ordinary material.

But something was strange.

[Uhm. But was Elvenwood originally a tree like this?]

No matter how much they had heard about Elvenwood it was their first time seeing it in person.

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

The same goes for the energy I feel.

There was something very sinister about the twigs constantly twiddling and trying to attack them.

[From what I heard it’s very spiritual.]

[It’s like… it’s no different from a tree-type magical beast.]

“no.”

Resisting the dwarves’ words Esil was glaring at Elvenwood with a stern expression.

The expressions of the other demons were the same.

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

“You can see it too right?”

Suho also nodded in agreement to Esil’s words.

“From what I felt while fighting in person this Elvenwood somehow feels somewhere between the weeds of the afterlife and the World Tree.”

That was the habit of Elvenwood that Suho personally experienced.

When Suho told Esil what he had experienced Esil muttered with a serious expression.

“If that’s true does that mean… the weeds of the afterlife were eating up not only us demons but also elves?”

“No one knows the exact story. But isn’t it somewhat similar just in a different way?”

Difference in method.

Hunting them yourself or raising them and eating them.

What if the weeds of the afterlife become residents of the crevices and hunt and eat demons?

It seemed reasonable enough to say that Elvenwood which was slowly growing and devouring elves was a weed of the afterlife at first.

Even the process was similar.

What if the weeds of the afterlife evolve by eating ‘dead souls’?

Elvenwood grows by coexisting with ‘spirits’.

“It’s definitely similar. Especially since you have to struggle to survive forever. It is even more so if the fate of the creatures that the ‘Absolute One’ wants is for warriors who have become stronger to be sent into war against the rulers…”

Esil got a little goosebumps at the feeling of learning the truth about a world he had never known before.

And in the first place it didn’t matter whether Elvenwood’s roots were weeds or not.

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

[But now it has become our great lumber.]

Either way it was Ver who was giggling.

And the shadow dwarves who were excitedly chopping up Elvenwood looked at Suho and asked.

[Master where did you get this Elvenwood?]

“why?”

Suho who noticed their greedy eyes smiled and responded.

“Do you want me to get more?”

[Is it possible?!]

The dwarves startled by those words went wild and shouted.

[Look at the survivability of this Elvenwood!]

[It is so poisonous that even at this very moment it is spreading out its twigs and catching weeds hidden in the sea!]

[If you actively utilize this principle it is not a dream to create a posthumous battleship that can self-repair on its own!]

“surely.”

Suho was also watching Elvenwood which was like this and still wriggling its twigs.

He nodded at the bright eyes of the dwarves.

“I can save you as much as you want. Enough to make your entire raft out of Elvenwood.”

[Huh?!]

Yes… there were too many of them so it was a problem.