Chapter 72

Leveling Up Alone: Ragnarok Chapter 71

Suhwo, Baek Mihwa, and Im Tae-gyu managed to enter the beehive, breaking through the rain of arrows.

The moment they landed on the ground,

Zap!

Without a word, Suhwo and Baek Mihwa darted forward at incredible speed.

They slashed the throats of the archers who had been shooting arrows at them.

Swish!

“Gack!”

[A Polluted Ghoul has been defeated.]

[A Polluted Ghoul has been defeated.]

They were the same kind of mutants that had been on the ground.

“Damn. They’re all our people?”

Im Tae-gyu clenched his teeth, recognizing the faces of the creatures. Even though they had mutated, traces of their former selves remained.

“Are these all members of the Death Guild?”

Baek Mihwa muttered with a serious expression.

“No wonder they killed all the other hunters and only kidnapped the Death Guild members… Could it be that Im Min-seong wanted to become the guild leader this way?”

“Anyway, now that we’re inside the beehive, let’s find the owner. Ber, guide us.”

[Yes, my lord. Please follow me.]

In response to Suhwo’s words, Ber, the navigator, led the way, twitching its antennae.

At that moment,

One of Suhwo’s dual swords, ‘Rakan’s Fang,’ spoke to him.

-Be careful. This beehive has now become a sanctuary.

“A sanctuary?”

Suhwo looked at Rakan’s Fang and asked.

[The Beast King, Fang Lord, shrugs, saying it’s not him.]

“Then it must be Queressa’s sanctuary.”

-It seems so.

“Sanctuaries don’t just appear anywhere, right?”

-Of course not. A sanctuary is ultimately the domain of a Lord. With all the Lords dead, it has become a place where they are worshipped.

Sanctuary.

At the word, Suhwo recalled the sanctuaries of Rakan he had seen before.

“There might be relics inside.”

-We can’t be sure. There might be relics, successors, or priests.

“Well, we’ll find out when we meet Im Min-seong.”

From the outside, it looked like a beehive, but once inside, it was a completely separate new space.

A foreboding sky.

Thick clouds swirled as if a major storm was about to hit.

The air, frozen with fear, was filled with a damp, decaying smell.

“It feels like we’ve entered a gate. Is this a new dungeon?”

Im Tae-gyu muttered, looking around.

Suhwo responded,

“It seems different from a dungeon.”

Precisely, it was a sanctuary.

But Im Tae-gyu’s expression turned sour at Suhwo’s words.

“Different from a dungeon? What do you know to say that?”

Im Tae-gyu, who was suppressing the rising royal jelly’s toxicity with his mana, was on edge.

As the guild leader of the Death Guild, he felt responsible for the entire situation.

Public opinion had already turned against the Death Guild.

Even if they resolved this issue, he had no idea how to deal with the current atmosphere.

Whatever Im Min-seong had done, the fact that the vice-guild leader had opened a dungeon in the middle of the city would undoubtedly deal a massive blow to the Death Guild.

The compensation for the people who died today alone would be enormous.

When Suhwo, who appeared to have only C-grade mana, suddenly made a strange statement, Im Tae-gyu was flabbergasted.

What did a C-grade hunter know to contradict an S-grade hunter like himself?

“Then what is this if it’s not a dungeon?”

At that moment, Baek Mihwa urgently intervened.

“We don’t have time to argue. Guild Leader Im Tae-gyu, can you not use your mana right now?”

“...”

Im Tae-gyu’s mouth closed as he was hit where it hurt.

“...Yes. The poison is spreading in my body, and I’m suppressing it with mana.”

“Have you not received a heal?”

“The heal didn’t work. I’ll need a higher-level healer later, but there’s no suitable one nearby...”

“Then why did you come here?”

“...Even without using mana, my physical strength is sufficient.”

Indeed, even without using mana, an S-grade hunter’s physical strength alone was a formidable force.

“Oh, you can be used as a shield. That’s a relief.”

“...”

[Stop it. You’re making the kid cry.]

Finally, Ber, unable to bear it, stepped in.

A kid?

Im Tae-gyu felt a sudden surge of emotion.

A tiny ant floating beside Suhwo was looking at him with genuine pity.

But why?

When Im Tae-gyu’s eyes met Ber’s, he felt an instinctive repulsion.

Repulsion? No, it was more than that...

Chill.

‘Am I feeling fear? Why?’

Ber looked at Im Tae-gyu with a strange expression.

[Hmm. You’ve aged quite a bit.]

“...?”

Im Tae-gyu felt puzzled by the familiar tone.

But the feeling didn’t last long.

“Everyone, prepare for battle.”

Just then, Suhwo, who had been expanding his senses, looked up at the sky and spoke.

Rumble!

A swarm of black bees was approaching from the ominous clouds.

Or rather, upon closer inspection, those weren’t clouds at all.

“Crazy.”

Im Tae-gyu’s face was one of disbelief.

“Are those clouds all bees?”

Everything that looked like clouds was actually bees.

[This is indeed a beehive. They’ve gathered quite a lot.]

Ber twitched its antennae.

[The strongest presence is beyond those clouds.]

“So we have to fly again.”

After breaking through the rain of arrows, they now had to fly through this massive swarm of bees.

At that moment,

Ding!

[‘Sanctuary of Insects’ has been activated.]

“...!”

Suhwo suddenly felt a chill.

This sensation was the same as ‘that time’.

The same as when he entered the sanctuary of the Beast King...

Ding!

[Passive skill ‘(Unknown)’ has been activated.]

Whoosh!

Instantly, Suhwo’s shadow spread out, enveloping the entire world.

And.

Time stopped.

No, everything stopped.

* * *

‘...Here again?’

Suhwo stood alone at the edge of an empty horizon.

A world of perfect void.

‘The realm of eternal rest.’

But the sensation here was completely different from when he met the Beast King Rakan.

‘Insects, huh.’

Suhwo looked at the ground beneath his feet.

The entire ground, indeed the entire white world, was made up of countless white insects.

Suhwo raised his head and looked forward.

At the edge of the empty horizon, a woman sat with her legs crossed, looking down at him with a haughty expression.

Suhwo immediately recognized her.

‘Are you Queressa?’

The woman’s lips curled into a wicked smile.

[Yes, that’s right. My name is Queressa, the eternal wraith killed by your father.]

At that moment, the system urgently displayed a message in front of Suhwo.

[The King of Insects, the Plague Lord Queressa, is watching you.]

...!

The woman’s presence began to grow immensely.

It wasn’t just her aura that grew.

Click! Click!

Squish!

The white insects that made up the ground began to merge, and the woman’s size grew larger and larger.

[...Once upon a time.]

She looked down at the now tiny Suhwo and licked her lips.

[I wanted to taste the flavor of a fellow Lord.]

The giant insect queen chuckled with a self-deprecating smile.

[But in the end, I was the one who was eaten.]

At that moment,

The ground beneath Suhwo transformed into a giant hand that grabbed him.

Grrr.

The hand slowly lifted Suhwo up to Queressa’s face.

Queressa slowly scanned Suhwo, reminiscing.

[Did you know? Your father was more vicious than any insect I’ve ever met.]

As if trying to find the shadow of Seong Jin-woo, who had killed her, in Suhwo’s face.

[You look a lot like him.]

‘Really? Many people say I look more like my mother.’

At Suhwo’s response, a mischievous glint appeared in Queressa’s eyes.

[What would you taste like if I ate you now? Would you be similar to your father?]

She looked like a pure child about to crush small insects with her hands.

Except the situation was reversed.

Suhwo was much smaller in front of the enormous insect queen.

But Suhwo remained composed.

‘For a wraith who’s been dead for a long time, you’re quite full of yourself.’

[...Your arrogant mouth is just like your father’s.]

Queressa glared at Suhwo with a chilling gaze and set him down on the ground.

[Yes, you’re right. I am already dead. But...]

Ding!

Suddenly, a foreboding system message appeared in front of Suhwo.

[A quest has arrived.]

Before Suhwo could read the message, Queressa’s smile turned cruel.

[I am both one and many.]

Queressa was born as a small insect and grew by consuming countless others, becoming the queen of insects.

All the insects she had consumed were part of her body.

And all the insects in this world were her body, her soul.

[The moment you stepped into my world, you were already consumed by me.]

At that moment, the damp, toxic aura that had been felt outside filled the white world.

No, the entire world turned hostile to Suhwo.

A quest window appeared in front of Suhwo.

[Emergency Quest: Queressa’s Solitude (Gudu)]

The King of Insects, the Plague Lord Queressa, has drawn you into ‘Solitude (Gudu).’

All the insects that make up Queressa are hostile to you.

Survive the required time to prove your worth.

Required Time: 4 hours

Remaining Time: 4 hours 0 minutes 0 seconds

A smug smile appeared on Queressa’s face as she looked down at Suhwo from above.

[Struggle as much as you can. Like an insect. Just like I did in front of your father!]

At the same time, all the insects in the world began to attack Suhwo.

Squish!

Squish!

‘...’

However,

Queressa felt something was off.

Despite the endless swarm of insects, Suhwo’s expression showed no panic, not even a flicker of movement.

Even in this realm of rest, where Suhwo couldn’t summon his shadow soldiers, his composure was unshaken.

[Wait, just a moment.]

Queressa was the one who was flustered.

[What is that power? Could it be...]

A dark, ominous aura began to swirl around Suhwo’s arm.

Moreover, it wasn’t just one kind of aura.

Whoosh!

A divine wind blew from somewhere, turning Suhwo’s hair silver.

Queressa, who knew the nature of these auras, couldn’t help but be shocked.

[You... How many Lords’ powers have you inherited...!]