Chapter 91

Alone Leveling: Ragnarok Chapter 90

“…….”

“…….”

Whoosh—

A moment of disheartening wind passed by.

What Im Do-gyun discovered was a totem created by the demons.

Eshil could immediately understand the meaning of the totem.

“This is like a signpost that the demons use.”

“Did they make it so they wouldn’t get lost in this jungle?”

“It seems so. And at the end of this, there’s definitely their hideout.”

“Wait, kids? No, Guild Master?”

Im Do-gyun, who had been listening to the conversation between Eshil and Suho, was gradually turning pale.

“You’re not seriously going there now, are you?”

Just a moment ago, a sudden invasion of demons had caused a massive tragedy.

Now, the conversation between the two, suggesting they were about to walk into the demon's lair, sounded like a death sentence to Im Do-gyun.

“Ah, it might be a bit dangerous for you. Do you want to go into my shadow for a moment?”

“Eh? Wait. You said it’s bad for my health to go in there!”

[That was a joke. Staying here and following us would be even worse for your health.]

“Eek……”

At Ber’s words, Im Do-gyun’s body stiffened like a dead man.

“Yeah. Stay in there for a moment. It won’t take long.”

Suho chuckled and took out the key to the Shadow Dungeon.

Click.

[Entering the Shadow Dungeon.]

“Eh?!”

Of course, only Im Do-gyun entered.

Suddenly, Suho’s shadow rose like a curtain, enveloping Im Do-gyun’s body.

Suho reassured the flustered Im Do-gyun.

“Don’t worry too much. It’s a place where people live too.”

“Wait……!”

Whoosh!

At that moment, Im Do-gyun’s vision turned pitch black, and when he opened his eyes again, he saw……

[Grumble? Who are you?]

A massive crocodile-human Ammut looked down at Im Do-gyun with an interested expression.

“Hic……”

Im Do-gyun’s face showed a look of shock as he slumped to the ground.

But his pitiful and weak appearance was exactly to Ammut’s taste.

[Grumble. Are you the human guild member that my disciple spoke of? It reminds me of Tarnak when he was young.]

The corners of the massive crocodile’s mouth turned up into a meaningful smile.

And with a voice more demonic than a demon’s, he subtly whispered to Im Do-gyun.

[Weak human, don’t you want to become stronger than you are now?]

“No.”

[……Hm?]

Im Do-gyun suddenly became resolute.

He walked to a corner of the pyramid and squatted down obediently.

“I’ll just stay here quietly.”

[…….]

A stunned expression appeared on Ammut’s face.

* * *

After sending Im Do-gyun away, Suho and Eshil immediately began to trace back the demons’ totem to find the factory.

They did encounter a few demons along the way, but it wasn’t a big problem now.

With Suho’s new ‘Demon Slayer’ title, lower-level demons were no longer a match for him.

Thud.

“Something seems off.”

Eshil, who had discovered a new totem, looked around with a serious expression.

“What’s wrong?”

“This totem isn’t a signpost indicating direction. The path ends here.”

“The path ends? Hmm.”

At this, Suho expanded his senses to detect any presence around them.

But he couldn’t sense any demons or monsters.

‘Not even the wind is blowing.’

The still and stagnant air created a terrifying atmosphere.

Indeed, this place was where the demons lurked, so anything could happen.

[Young Master.]

[Master.]

At that moment, Ber and Quei called out to Suho simultaneously.

They pointed to the ground beneath Suho’s feet.

[We can sense a dimensional rift right below us.]

“A gate?”

[Yes, it seems so, Master.]

Suho’s gaze turned downward.

“Ber, find a way to go underground.”

[Yes, Master.]

Ber quickly flew away.

However, Quei, instead of moving, calmly scanned the surroundings with a sharp gaze.

[Master, if the demons’ traces disappeared here, it’s possible they used some kind of spell or skill to hide the entrance.]

“That makes sense.”

Suho nodded and raised his dual swords.

“In that case……”

[Skill: Storm Slash.]

Kaboom!

“Let’s destroy everything and see what comes out.”

Suho indiscriminately unleashed his sword energy toward the empty space, centered around the last totem he found.

Then, an astonishing scene unfolded.

Crack! Crack!

“……!”

The ground and sky split apart, and a dimensional rift began to form right before their eyes.

Eshil’s eyes widened in shock.

“This aura, it can’t be!”

Surprisingly, the aura emanating from the other side of the rift was very familiar to Eshil.

“It’s a gate connected to the Demon Realm!”

“The Demon Realm? The dimension you lived in?”

“Yes! This gate is likely connected to the dimension I escaped from!”

“Now I understand.”

Suho nodded.

The reason the third dungeon in Pyeongtaek was designated as only a D-grade dungeon was because the level and number of monsters appearing here were not high.

But it turned out that the creatures emerging from this gate were not monsters but demons.

‘Intelligent demons, so instead of attacking humans outright, they quietly hid to build their strength.’

They also released a moderate number of monsters and created a jungle to make it difficult to find the path, thus blocking human access.

“It seems we found the main base while looking for the factory.”

“I mentioned before that a world defeated in the Overlord War is torn into pieces and drifts through the dimensional gaps. The piece beyond this gate is likely a fragment of the ruined Demon Realm.”

“Ruined?”

“Yes. The demon nobles who ruled the Demon Realm are all dead, so only the remnants who hid to avoid the war are left.”

“Those remnants became stronger by consuming the blood of demon nobles?”

“Probably. They are likely trying to become new demon nobles by enhancing their own power.”

“What’s so good about becoming a demon noble?”

“That’s……”

Just as Eshil was about to answer Suho’s question,

Whoosh!

An immense suction force suddenly appeared inside the gate revealed by Suho’s indiscriminate attack.

Strangely, this force was pulling only Eshil, not Suho.

“Kyaa!”

Eshil, who was lifted into the air against her will, flailed her hands in panic, and Suho quickly grabbed her hand.

As a result, Suho’s body also began to rise due to the suction force from the gate.

[Young Master!]

[Master! It’s dangerous!]

Ber and Quei urgently grabbed Suho from behind.

Eshil, still holding Suho’s hand, shouted.

“It seems the Demon Realm is trying to forcibly pull me in! It happened the same way in the past!”

A world that has lost its overlord will inevitably seek a new one.

The moment the Demon Realm detected the aura of Eshil Radir, the only existing demon noble, it tried to forcibly pull her in.

“Is that so?”

Understanding the situation, Suho, instead of panicking, smiled meaningfully.

“Then I’ll go willingly!”

Holding Eshil’s hand, Suho willingly let himself be sucked into the gate.

Whoosh!

The ruined Demon Realm……

‘There should be a lot of demons here.’

It was a great opportunity to strengthen Volcan’s horns.

However, the moment he passed through the gate, Suho’s view changed dramatically.

“……Huh?”

Stepping onto the ground, Suho blinked and looked ahead.

A large and majestic mine.

Numerous demons, chained at the feet, were working with pickaxes all over the place.

“What is this?”

“Indeed.”

Clank! Clank! Clank!

The noisy sound of pickaxes echoed everywhere.

Even Eshil was taken aback by the situation, which was unimaginable from outside the gate.

Crack!

“Gah!”

At that moment, a terrifying whip sound and a scream came from far away.

“You lazy bastards! Stop trying to trick us and get to work! Work!”

“Gah! Cough! Sorry! Sorry!”

A giant demon, who seemed to be a supervisor, was cruelly trampling the slave demons.

The slave demons, writhing in pain from the magical whip, somehow managed to get up and start pulling the carts to avoid further punishment.

Suho and Eshil, without a word, hid behind a rock pillar to avoid the supervisor’s gaze.

“A labor camp?”

“……Something’s off.”

Eshil had a serious expression.

“How can such a system exist without a demon noble?”

“What would be normal?”

“The Demon Realm is a place of the strong ruling the weak. It’s a world of survival of the fittest. But this can be overturned at any time. We become stronger by eating each other.”

“By drinking blood?”

“Yes. No matter how strong you are, if you ambush and eat someone, you become stronger. Without a demon noble, a dominant presence, the demons would descend into chaos.”

A chaotic world of eating and being eaten.

That was the essence of the Demon Realm.

But the current scene seemed to suggest that a hierarchy still existed.

“This kind of system can only exist if a demon noble is ruling here. But I’m the only one who survived.”

“Indeed, it’s strange.”

Suho also felt something was off.

If the demons working like slaves combined their strength, they could easily kill and eat the supervisor.

Yet, the slaves’ eyes were filled with deep defeat and fear.

“Uooom!”

At that moment, a massive bull monster pulled a large cart full of minerals past Suho and Eshil.

[Domesticated Minotaur]

‘Minotaur?’

As the name suggested, the massive bull monster had thick chains around its neck and legs.

Even a saddle was attached to its back for comfort.

But the animal pulling the cart was not just one Minotaur.

Several bizarre, horse-like monsters, chained and harnessed, were also pulling the cart full of minerals.

“……Eh? That one?”

Eshil’s eyes widened as she recognized a sleek horse among them.

“Do you know it?”

“It’s my servant.”