Chapter 69

Alone Leveling: Ragnarok Chapter 68

"Really... you're someone I can't let my guard down around."

Arsha let out a hollow laugh.

"I never thought you'd see through it this far."

However, the glare she gave Suho contained not a trace of a smile.

Wheee-

The swarm of bees that made up Arsha's face kept dispersing and regrouping, showing just how flustered she was.

Suho smirked.

"Looks like I was right."

"I think we should end this conversation here."

As Arsha suddenly stood up, Suho teased her.

"Suddenly? Do you have something urgent to do?"

"Yes. I need to start collecting the sacrifices Im-seong killed and look for a new hive to move to."

"Where are you moving to? Have you found a place yet?"

"Wherever it is, you won't be able to find me, Lord Suho."

"That's disappointing. I was thinking of coming over for a housewarming party."

"That will be impossible."

Their banter went back and forth without a single word being conceded.

Turning to Suho, Arsha smiled radiantly and said,

"While we were chatting, this basement has been filled with my poison."

"Poison?"

"Yes. It's a colorless, odorless, and extremely potent poison that even the descendants of the Fang Lord wouldn't have noticed."

Initially, the reason Arsha had chatted with Suho here was to buy time for her poison to fully seep into his body.

Arsha's smile grew increasingly cruel as she looked at Suho.

"Since you entered the queen's chamber on your own, you'll either leave as a single bee or as food. So, I'll take my leave here..."

[Kehehe.]

"Uh?"

For some reason,

[Kehehehe.]

the small ant, Ber, was holding her stomach and giggling on the table, her laughter filled with even more mockery than before.

In contrast, Suho wasn't laughing at all.

He simply stood up from his chair, just as he had when he first came down, and stood next to Arsha, saying,

"Good. I was thinking of going to see Im-seong soon. Want to come with me?"

"Wh-What?!"

Arsha, who was confident in her poison, quickly moved away from Suho as if she had been burned.

She couldn't sense even a trace of poison in Suho.

Of course, Suho was still being poisoned in real-time.

However,

[Harmful substance detected.]

[Detoxification initiated by 'Blessing: Longevity'.]

[Detoxification complete.]

[Detoxification complete.]

[Detoxification complete.]

...

A barrage of detoxification messages flashed before Suho's eyes.

"That's impossible! To withstand my poison! This kind of power...!"

Arsha exclaimed in shock at Suho.

"Could it be that you've really obtained another of Quereza's relics?"

Arsha, who had watched the fight between the Lancers through her bees, thought that Suho might have obtained another relic, just like the Lancers at the end.

While it was only a possibility, the idea of a mere human obtaining a great lord's relic was extremely unlikely.

But now it was certain.

There was no way he could have withstood her poison without inheriting a relic left by the Plague Lord.

"Why are you, already a descendant of the Fang Lord, aiming for Quereza's successor position as well!"

[...]

"..."

Arsha's expression, filled with strong conviction, made Ber and Suho feel sorry for her.

It was almost too embarrassing to tell her the truth.

[The King of Beasts, the Fang Lord, is holding his stomach and laughing.]

"Let's go, Ber."

Suho turned his back on Arsha and started walking.

He had heard everything he needed to hear, so there was no reason to stay.

"Answer me before you go!"

Suho stopped and turned his head, his eyes flashing.

"I'll tell you the answer when I meet your true form next time."

But then, you won't be as safe as you are today.

He didn't need to say the last part; it was already clear.

Suho then headed up the stairs toward the ground floor.

Watching his back, Arsha bit her lip in frustration.

To show his back so openly in front of her meant he was that confident.

'Not only did he take all my bees, but my poison didn't work either? If this is the case...'

Isn't this human more like a queen than me?

'I have to hurry with the ritual.'

The thought that she might lose the successor position to either Im-seong or Suho filled her with anxiety.

Suddenly, Arsha's body scattered.

Wheee-

A short while later, citizens witnessed countless bees flying away like smoke from inside Times Square.

* * *

[Should we just leave that dazed queen?]

"Since she's not the main body, there's no point in wasting energy here. We have bigger problems with Im-seong right now."

To Suho, Arsha's beautiful appearance was just a cluster of bees.

Killing a few bees wouldn't give much experience, and it didn't seem like Arsha would be in serious trouble.

[After all, with all the Lancers she gathered this time gone, she'll probably hide for a while. It's the queen's fate to spend her life hidden in the hive...]

"Cancel Divine Enhancement."

To conserve mana, Suho canceled his Divine Enhancement.

[Divine Enhancement canceled.]

Swish.

The divine wind swirling around Suho's body calmed down, and his silver-tinted hair turned black again.

He had maintained Divine Enhancement while dealing with the queen, but he needed to save mana before finding Im-seong.

"Rumble!"

[The spirit of 'Pet: Gray' detaches from the summoner's body.]

"Go back inside."

"Rumble?"

Suho sent Gray, who had separated from his body, back to the Shadow Dungeon.

Thud.

At that moment,

"Suho Hunter! You're safe!"

Suho, who had just reached the first floor, met the Baekho Guild members who were about to go down to the basement.

Baek Mi-ho, at the front, quickly checked Suho's condition.

Then she tilted her head.

'His hair was supposed to be bleached, but it's black? Did he cancel his skill?'

Baek Mi-ho felt a bit disappointed that she couldn't confirm with her own eyes whether Suho had really used the beast transformation skill.

She could ask him directly if he had the beast transformation skill, but there were more pressing issues at the moment.

First, the fact that Suho was the only one not wearing a gas mask in this area filled with toxic fog!

'He gave gas masks to his teammates and disappeared, right? Could he have even given his own mask to them?'

Baek Mi-ho couldn't just ignore Suho's self-sacrifice.

"Quickly, give this person a gas mask."

"Yes, Vice President!"

Following Baek Mi-ho's order, a guild member took a gas mask from his bag and tried to put it on Suho's face.

However, Suho politely declined and continued walking.

"No, thank you. I have something urgent to do, so I need to leave right away."

"We have the same situation. We're evacuating the other hunters... but more importantly, what exactly happened here?"

Baek Mi-ho, who was trying to leave Times Square, asked Suho a series of questions.

"Other hunters said you saved them. How...?"

"Now is not the time for idle chatter."

Suho interrupted Baek Mi-ho with a serious expression.

"We need to find and stop Im-seong immediately."

"Huh? Suddenly? Stop what...?"

At that moment,

"Vice President! We received a call from headquarters!"

A Baekho Guild member, holding a phone, urgently called out to Baek Mi-ho.

"Im-seong is reportedly massacring people in the streets..."

"..."

"..."

Hearing this, Suho and Baek Mi-ho turned their heads simultaneously.

Bang!

Without a word, they both started running toward the maze's exit.

"Come on, Vice President!"

Surprised, the Baekho Guild members followed a step behind.

However, they suddenly felt a strange sensation.

"Wait, wasn't that guy C-rank?"

"Why is he so fast?!"

To their amazement, Suho was running almost neck and neck with the A-rank hunter Baek Mi-ho.

Running right next to her, Baek Mi-ho was even more shocked.

'What? His profile clearly says he's a summoner.'

Of course, she hadn't used her main skill, beast transformation, yet.

Moreover, the maze's winding paths prevented them from running in a straight line at full speed.

But even considering all that, Suho's speed was definitely not that of a C-rank summoner.

Meanwhile, Suho was also thinking something similar about Baek Mi-ho.

'Fast. She's definitely A-rank.'

Then he remembered that Im-seong, whom they were about to catch, was also an A-rank hunter.

Given that Arsha had a crush on him, Im-seong was likely on a different level from the Lancers, who were made up of C-rank and below hunters.

'If he decides to run, it could get a bit troublesome.'

Moreover, Im-seong now had wings.

Ah, a good idea came to mind.

"Baek Mi-ho."

"Yes?!"

Suddenly hearing her name from right next to her, Baek Mi-ho turned to Suho in surprise.

"How long do you think it would take to run from here to where Im-seong is?"

"Run?"

"Are you planning to take a car? It'll be congested at this time."

"Oh."

After the Great Cataclysm, traffic in Seoul had become severe due to the gates opening at several major subway stations, cutting off the subway lines.

In an emergency like this, running was much faster.

Understanding Suho's intention, Baek Mi-ho calculated the distance and confidently replied,

"Running at full speed, it should take about 20 minutes! How about you, Suho?"

Her challenging gaze suggested a competitive spirit.

While they were running side by side now, she was confident that she would be much faster if she used her beast transformation and ran at full speed.

"Wow. You're definitely A-rank."

Thumbs up.

Suho genuinely praised her, raising both thumbs.

Then, with an even more innocent expression, he suggested to Baek Mi-ho,

"I think I'll be much slower than that, so could you carry me?"

"Wh-What?"

Baek Mi-ho doubted her own ears.