Solo Leveling: Ragnarok Chapter 30

“Growl…”

 

The canine wolf, Gray, was crouching and staring at his prey.

 

 

[Gray Lv.4]

Canine Wolf

 

 

His level had gone up a bit, but he was still the size of a palm. However, as expected of the descendant of the great canine clan, Gray had grown to the point where he could easily hunt one or two goblins.

 

Thanks to this, Gray was now walking with his tail held high and full of energy. Of course, handling three goblins at once was still difficult, so he would quickly retreat to the small den prepared beforehand if three goblins attacked at once.

 

The goblins would eventually give up the chase because the den was too small.

 

While Gray was adapting to life in the Shadow Dungeon by controlling and taking down the large and stupid goblins, he was suddenly faced with a great danger one day. An intruder had come to the Shadow Dungeon!

 

“Growwwl…”

 

Gray secretly followed the intruder with a cautious look in his eyes. The intruder looked quite strong but seemed to have no strength after starving for a long time.

 

He could do it.

 

That very moment ignited Gray’s fighting spirit.

 

He could.

 

Hunting prey stronger than oneself was a very honorable task.

 

Gulp.

 

Gray held his breath and waited for the moment the prey showed an opening with a tense expression.

 

And finally!

 

Flutter.

 

The creature moved!

 

“What are you looking at?”

 

“Growl?”

 

Esil’s hand lifted one hind leg of Gray, who was crouching in the corner and glaring at her.

 

“Growl! Grr!”

 

Oops! Caught!

 

Gray flapped his short legs in surprise. But realizing that he couldn’t escape from Esil’s grasp no matter how much he struggled, he barked fiercely with a rebellious look.

 

“Grrr!”

 

“Oh, seriously. If you weren’t Sooho’s pet, I would’ve eaten you up by now.” Esil looked at Gray and licked her lips regretfully.

 

‘I can’t believe that the descendant of the Beast Monarch is stuck in a place like this.’

 

Although he was just a small bite-sized creature, the blood and flesh of the canine clan were a very valuable elixir in and of itself.

 

“Growl!”

 

Swish, swish!

 

“What? Would you like to taste it?”

 

Gray twisted his snout around and eagerly licked Esil’s hand that was holding his back. Even so, his eyes continued to glare at her boldly.

 

“You’re a funny little pup.” Esil chuckled. “Well, you probably know instinctively that if you were to eat me, you would gain strength.”

 

‘Because we’re actually in the same position.’

 

Esil herself was the only surviving demon noble in the Demon World. In other words, she was the only candidate to become the King of Demons someday.

 

Just as the demons coveted Esil’s blood, the pure blood flowing in her veins was imbued with valuable power.

 

‘…And that’s probably the same for you too, isn’t it?’

 

This arrogant little puppy was the only surviving member of the canine clan, who may one day become the Beast Monarch.

 

Esil suddenly had a strange feeling.

 

‘To think that two pure-bloods from a clan destroyed by war are gathered here. What was Sooho’s purpose of picking us up?’

 

Swish, swish, swish!

 

“Ah, seriously! Stop drooling!”

 

At that moment.

 

 

[You have entered the Shadow Dungeon.]

 

 

Shwaaa!

 

Sooho and Beru had just entered the Shadow Dungeon, holding one—no, two fresh pigs!

 

“What!?”

 

“Growl?”

 

Esil and Gray turned their heads at the same time.

 

Rumble…

 

A rumbling noise echoed from Esil and Beru’s stomachs.

 

At that sound, Sooho chuckled and pushed the pigs toward them. “Here. Demons like meat, don’t they?”

 

“Yeah! As long as it’s not grass!”

 

Esil quickly threw Gray, who she had been carrying, behind her and casually took the pig from Sooho. Then Gray, who had been thrown back, quickly returned and greedily bared his teeth in front of Esil.

 

And, plop!

 

“Grrr! Kiooong!” Gray suddenly flipped his belly up and began writhing around.

 

But Esil was firm.

 

“No, you can’t have it. Go back. This is my food.”

 

“Pant, pant, pant!”

 

“It’s too late to wag your tail now!”

 

“Growl!”

 

The wolf cub and the demon noble fought over the pig. Sooho, watching them from behind, couldn’t hide his disappointment.

 

‘Why do carnivores seem to be gathering around me more and more these days?’

 

Chomp, chomp, chomp!

 

[Kiekhehe! This is delicious!]

 

“…”

 

There were two whole pigs. Beru was eagerly tearing and eating the remaining pig at the back. And even the brave Gray didn’t dare to touch Beru’s food.

 

“Well then, let’s eat!” Esil plunged her hand deep into the pig’s body.

 

Then…

 

Swoosh!

 

A large whole pig began to shrivel around her hand.

 

‘Oh.’

 

Beside the fascinated Sooho, Beru explained.

 

[She’s absorbing the mana inside the pig’s body. Every demon has a different way of eating, but demon nobles prefer neat methods.]

 

“Oh, what a surprise. You’re the explanation king bug, aren’t you?”

 

[Yes, I’m a bug.]

 

Beru nodded as if it were natural, then he returned to his own pig and opened his mouth wide.

 

Gulp, slurp, chomp, chomp.

 

He seemed to prefer a messy way of eating, unlike Esil.

 

Sooho smiled and turned his gaze away.

 

“Well then, I’ll be going…”

 

Sniff, sniff.

 

Krrhok, krrhok.

 

The goblins in the wild who caught the smell of the meat were gradually gathering around.

 

Sooho reached out.

 

“Hup?!” One of the leaders suddenly floated up in the air and kicked its legs.

 

Ruler’s Authority.

 

A faint smile crossed Sooho’s lips. “Should I do the daily quest?”

 

 

[Daily Quest: Cleaning the Shadow Dungeon]

 

100 Goblins: Incomplete (0/100)

 

10 Goblin Chiefs: Incomplete (0/10)

 

1 Goblin Commander: Incomplete (0/1)

 

***

 

[The completion reward has arrived.]

 

[Do you want to check the reward?] (Y/N)

 

 

He realized that his abilities had improved again.

 

‘Now I guess even a hundred goblins wouldn’t be a morning workout.’

 

Clap, clap. Sooho lightly brushed his hand among the goblin corpses.

 

Rakan’s Fang and Vulcan’s Horn were on either side of him, stuck into the ground.

 

‘Looks like there won’t be a hidden quest like last time.’

 

He tried killing a few more this time, but hidden rewards seemed one-time only. Luckily, the regular daily quest rewards were abundant enough.

 

 

[The following rewards are prepared.]

 

Reward 1: Stats Recovery

 

Reward 2: Ability Points +3

 

Reward 3: 1 Random Box

 

 

First, he decided to leave the ‘Stats Recovery’ reward unclaimed.

 

‘I’ll save this for a real emergency.’

 

While he could recover HP with potions, they were slow, and the amount recovered was small. On the other hand, the ‘Stats Recovery’ reward was an immediate recovery.

 

‘It’s best to invest all of my ability points in Strength.’

 

No matter what, Strength was the key to becoming stronger. The higher his Strength stat, the higher his power and speed.

 

‘And a Random Box.’

 

It was not a hidden reward this time, so a normal random box appeared in Sooho’s hands. When he opened the box, a small ring rolled out.

 

 

[You have obtained ‘Item: Ashen Ring’.]

 

 

“A ring?”

 

As Sooho pulled out the dull-colored ring, the item description appeared in his mind.

 

 

[Item: Ashen Ring]

 

Acquisition Difficulty: D

 

Type: Accessories

 

Sense +5

 

 

“It raises my Sense stat by 5 points?”

 

Sooho’s eyes widened.

 

Despite its appearance, it was a very good item.

 

Sense stat was a stat that heightened one’s five senses and increased the ability to sense danger. In other words, it would increase the ability to detect surprise attacks.

 

Sooho casually slid the ring onto his finger.

 

Despite the ring being loose, it wasn’t a problem.

 

 

[You have equipped ‘Item: Ashen Ring’.]

 

 

The ashen ring disappeared from his finger, and the stat increase was applied.

 

 

[Sense: 29 (+5)]

 

 

‘Even a plain random box can be quite good. It feels like spinning a prize wheel.’

 

As Sooho completed his daily quest.

 

[Gurgle.]

 

The meal had ended without him noticing. However, Esil, who had been watching Sooho hunt goblins from behind all this time, had a puzzled expression on her face. It wasn’t polite to help someone else hunt, so she just watched, but the fact that goblins were wandering around here was unusual in itself.

 

“This is strange.”

 

“What is it?”

 

“How did the dimensional refugees end up here?”

 

“Dimensional refugees?”

 

“I mean those guys. After the Monarchs War, the surviving defeated soldiers were sucked into the dimensional rifts and ended up everywhere. They are called dimensional refugees.”

 

It was a natural consequence. Since all the Monarchs who were the focal points had disappeared, their underlings were scattered everywhere.

 

“But this doesn’t seem like a coincidence.”

 

[What do you mean it’s not a coincidence?]

 

Beru also showed interest in Esil’s words.

 

“Well…to be honest, breaking through the dimensional wall is a very difficult and cumbersome task.”

 

[I know that well. I would have returned to my liege long ago if it were easy.]

 

Beru nodded. In the old days, only the Monarch of Transfiguration could break through the gate to another dimension. Even that was by no means an easy task.

 

“You know that too, Beru. So do you think mere remnants of the war easily cross the dimensional wall?”

 

[Oh?]

 

Beru’s eyes flashed.

 

Sooho caught on to what Esil was saying and nodded. “Could it be because of the blue mist?”

 

“That’s right. One day, the blue mist from outer space began to mess up our dimensional barrier. How twisted it must have become for even weak and feeble goblins to come into the world ruled by the Shadow Monarch.” Esil shrugged, saying it was an absurd event.

 

– I agree with that.

 

Rakan’s Fang in Sooho’s hand suddenly interrupted the conversation.

 

– There is no way that the defeated soldiers would have entered the world ruled by the victor of the war on their own without going insane. This suggests that the dimensional rift was severely twisted.

 

‘Oh.’

 

During the conversation, Sooho suddenly realized an important fact.

 

“Beru, let me ask you one thing.”

 

[Yep.]

 

“Didn’t you say that Father’s army and the apostles from the outer universe had equal strength?”

 

[Yes, that’s right. Both were so evenly matched that my liege did not dare to come to Earth directly and sent me instead.]

 

“If you think of it the other way around, would the outsiders even dare to come over to Earth right now?”

 

[Huh?]

 

Beru’s eyes widened instantly.

 

[… Oh?]

 

Then they widened again.

 

“Isn’t that right?”

 

[You’re correct, Little King! Of course, it must be like that!]

 

Beru nodded frantically.

 

Sooho also nodded and muttered, “So they’re using the dimensional refugees. It’s clear that they’ve gathered the refugees because they can’t come themselves.”

 

This is what is known as killing two birds with one stone. And this was not a bad situation at all from the perspective of the dimensional refugees. From their point of view, Earth was a very easy place to kill, steal and conquer.

 

‘And one more thing.’

 

Sooho finally realized the meaning of his daily quest.

 

 

[Daily Quest: Cleaning the Shadow Dungeon]

 

 

“I need to clean up the goblins as quickly as possible and find and seal the dimensional rift they came through.”

 

[That’s right. If you leave the dimensional refugees alone, the outsiders from the other dimension will eventually find out about this place. Or, to be more precise…]

 

“They’ll find out about me.”

 

[…]

 

Sooho was fully aware of his situation.

 

“I am my father’s only weakness.”

 

There was now one more reason why he needed to become stronger.