Chapter 46

Alone Leveling: Ragnarok Chapter 45

“Hey, hold on!”

Eshil urgently called out to Suho.

“Surely you’re not going in right now?”

“Going in right now.”

“What a disaster!”

Eshil pointed at the red sand pouring down like a landslide from the Red Gate, her expression turning serious.

“Can’t you feel that heat right now? If you go in without any protection, you’ll end up with burns all over your body, and you might even suffocate and die from the heat!”

Indeed, just getting close to the red sand made the intense heat palpable.

In short, it was dangerous to go in recklessly without any preparation.

But then,

“Shop.”

Suho opened the shop window and selected an item.

Clank.

[‘Item: Fire Spirit’s Necklace’ has been purchased.]

[Item: Fire Spirit’s Necklace]

Acquisition Difficulty: D-Rank

Type: Accessory

A necklace blessed by the Fire Spirit.

Wearing it around your neck protects you from heat.

Suho quickly put on the strangely shaped necklace that appeared in his hand.

[‘Item: Fire Spirit’s Necklace’ has been equipped.]

Swoosh.

Immediately, the necklace around Suho’s neck became transparent and disappeared, and at the same time, his body felt suddenly refreshed.

The external heat was blocked.

“Huh.”

Seeing this, Eshil, who had been scolding Suho, became speechless.

‘It’s really effective.’

Suho wore a satisfied expression and, while he was at it, bought another necklace and handed it to Eshil.

“Here.”

“Aah? What?”

Eshil, who had received the necklace unexpectedly, looked bewildered by the mysterious aura emanating from it.

“F, Fire Spirit’s blessing? Where did you get such a treasure?”

“Treasure?”

“Yes, a treasure! An item blessed like this is rarely found outside. It seems to be from a tribe that was destroyed during the war of the lords… Hmm.”

Eshil, intrigued by the Fire Spirit’s Necklace, examined it from all angles and then quickly put it on.

Immediately, she felt her body become refreshed and her eyes widened.

“Wow. I could wear this all the time, right? At least I wouldn’t get burned… Ahem.”

Eshil, who had been emphasizing the dangers, felt a bit embarrassed.

“S, Still, it’s dangerous! Fine. Since you’ve given me such a nice gift, I’ll teach you something good.”

“What’s good?”

Eshil raised her hand to the puzzled Suho.

“Like this, using magic to create a barrier.”

Swoosh.

A transparent aura began to emanate from Eshil’s hand.

“Like this.”

Eshil brought the aura to her face and covered it like a mask.

“It’s a thin protective barrier on your face. This way, sand won’t get into your eyes or mouth. By the way, it works underwater too.”

“Ooh?”

Suho’s eyes sparkled at this unexpected tip.

He had been looking for a helmet in the shop window, but now he didn’t need to.

“Of course, it might be a bit difficult at first. The key is to maintain the barrier as thin as possible, which requires fine control of magic. I can show you a few more times…”

“Huh? I got it.”

“Eh.”

Swoosh.

Eshil looked deflated as Suho perfectly replicated the technique after just one look.

“Y, Yeah. That’s how you do it. It’s thin and good…”

It was a very perfect control of magic.

‘It took me years to make it that thin.’

She felt a bit wronged.

At that moment, from the side,

[Cough.]

Berg raised his head and put on a haughty air.

[Pathetic. To be surprised by just that. Our young lord was a prodigy from the start. He walked in the sky instead of taking his first steps as a baby.]

“I didn’t ask.”

[Is that all? He learned to read at five and did addition and subtraction at six…]

“No, I didn’t ask. You eight-armed freak.”

And that was a smooth response.

* * *

Once all preparations were complete, Suho climbed onto the back of the arachne with Eshil.

Fortunately, the arachne’s back was as hard as armor, making the ride quite comfortable.

“Let’s go!”

[Crunch!]

At Suho’s command, the arachne began to climb up the sand waterfall, digging with its giant pincers.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!

But the method was quite interesting.

First, it pushed the sand to the sides with its giant pincers.

At the same time, it spewed black spider silk from its body, which hardened the sand particles it had pushed aside.

As a result, the sand particles solidified in the shape they had been pushed into, creating a tunnel for the arachne to move through.

Of course, the tunnel quickly collapsed due to the continuous flow of sand from above, but it was enough to allow the arachne to move for a short time.

Suho was impressed by this method.

“Wow. This really makes it look like a bug.”

[Of course, it’s a bug.]

Berg, who answered for the arachne, which couldn’t speak.

[Crunch!]

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!

The arachne began to climb the sand waterfall gracefully, carrying Suho and Eshil.

Berg stood proudly on the arachne’s head, crossing his arms and directing the way.

[Advance, spider ship!]

Berg was recently obsessed with historical dramas about Admiral Yi Sun-sin.

* * *

How long did they dig through the sand?

It was essentially swimming in complete darkness, as there was no light at all.

But Suho had a plan.

“Just go straight up!”

[Crunch!]

The arachne dug straight up into the sand, following Suho’s command.

But then,

Shiver!

‘What is it?’

Suho’s sensory stat sent a massive warning.

Feeling an intense sense of danger, Suho shouted without thinking.

“Dodge to the side!”

[Crunch!]

The arachne immediately changed direction at Suho’s command.

Boom!

Suddenly, the wall of the tunnel they had just been in burst open, and something huge shot out.

It was like a subway train running on tracks.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!

A large, thick, and long something passed by them with incredible momentum.

“…!”

“What, what is that!”

Eshil was startled.

It was too dark to see what it was.

But Suho could see.

The red name tag attached to it.

[Venomous Sand Centipede]

“It’s a centipede!”

“A centipede?!”

Eshil’s face turned pale at the name.

It wasn’t because she was afraid of bugs.

Encountering a giant monster in the underground was not a good thing.

Especially if it was overwhelmingly large.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!

There was no time to think.

“Dodge!”

[Crunch!]

Before Suho’s words were even finished, the arachne began to dig frantically to escape from the creature.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!

A chill ran down their spines.

The sound of the sand being dug up from behind was getting closer and closer.

“Dodge to the side!”

[Crunch!]

Suho desperately directed the arachne’s movements based on his sensory stat.

The giant train (?) passed by them by a hair’s breadth.

Fortunately, the sand centipede seemed to be too long to change direction quickly once it had set its course.

[I will block it!]

Berg rushed at the sand centipede and kicked it.

Thud!

Berg was the one who bounced back.

[But I made it change direction a little!]

“Just go up! To the surface!”

[Crunch!]

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!

And that decision was correct.

Puff!

[Crunch!]

The arachne finally succeeded in breaking through the red sand and climbing to the surface.

Whoosh!

“Ugh.”

The sudden bright sunlight blinded Suho and Eshil.

As their vision adjusted, they saw the endless red desert before them.

“It’s really a desert.”

“Without the Fire Spirit’s Necklace, we would have died from the heat.”

…But there was no time to relax.

Swoosh!

A huge sand pillar rose up right behind them.

[Crunch?!]

The arachne was pushed back by the intense pressure and fell over.

Suho and Eshil, who were riding on it, also rolled off and fell to the ground.

After rolling a few times, they managed to regain their balance on the sand and looked at the scene before them with wide eyes.

Swoosh!

“Keeeee!”

The sand centipede that had emerged from the sand.

[Venomous Sand Centipede]

Its bizarre and repulsive appearance appeared before them.

And Suho saw it instantly.

Two teeth, the size of a child, attached to the bottom of the centipede’s head.

Just looking at those teeth, he could guess what would happen if he were bitten.

The large teeth and jaw were opening and closing continuously, and it looked like…

“It’s… savoring its meal?”

Eshil’s words were correct.

The sand centipede immediately opened its mouth and charged at them, digging through the sand.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!

Keeeee!

“Screeech!”

“Run!”

Eshil and Suho shouted simultaneously and started running across the desert.

Puff!

The giant centipede followed them, creating a wave of sand.

Eshil, running frantically, bit her lip and looked frustrated.

‘If I had my full power…!’

Her pride was hurt.

To be in a situation where her life was threatened by a large, stupid monster, despite being a noble demon.

But the past was the past.

Now was not the time to indulge in her pride.

‘With our current strength, we can’t fight this thing! We need to retreat to the Shadow World for now!’

Eshil turned to Suho urgently.

“Suho! We need to retreat…?”

Boom!

When she turned, she saw Suho, who had suddenly grown huge, delivering an uppercut to the centipede’s jaw.

[‘Skill: Giant’s Armor’ activated.]

Suho, who had learned a new skill by breaking the rune stone, was now twice his original size and engaging in a physical battle with the giant centipede.

Boom! Thud!

He alternately punched the centipede’s face with his enlarged fists and wrapped his arms around its thick neck to choke it.

Keeeee!

The centipede, in pain, thrashed its long body like a train, wrapping around Suho’s body.

It was a clash of strength against strength.

‘My goodness.’

Eshil, witnessing the battle between the giant Suho and the giant monster, was deeply shocked.

‘When did he get so strong?’

She was certain that Suho didn’t have this kind of power just yesterday.

[Cough. This is our young lord…]

Just as Berg was about to boast,

Swoosh!

Another sand pillar suddenly rose up in front of them.

“Oh, no.”

Eshil’s expression hardened.

This time, it wasn’t just one or two.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Seven sand centipedes had risen from the sand, surrounding them.

But even surrounded, Suho remained resolute.

His expressionless gaze swept over each of the centipedes.

‘Suho…’

Eshil swallowed hard at his imposing presence.

‘How much have you grown…’

Nod.

Then Suho nodded and turned his body with a refreshing movement.

“Should we just run?”

“…”