Solo Leveling: Ragnarok

The evil smile of the statue faltered for the first time. “What?”

Hwang Dongsoo was the high priest, a man who the Church of the Outer Gods had gone to great lengths to brainwash. He was an S-rank hunter, no less. It had been a very difficult and involved process to corrupt the soul of an S-rank hunter. They had first started by giving him jobs that would not make him suspicious, slowly building up their relationship. After that, when Dongsoo’s guard was sufficiently lowered, they entrusted him with the distribution of Stardust necklaces and Star Fragments, slowly accustoming him to the power of the Itarim. After such long efforts, they had finally succeeded in turning him into a high priest.

It had taken that much work to turn Dongsoo into an S-rank high priest. So why?Why is my high priest being dragged out like a sack of potatoes? the idol wondered.

“How is this possible? Who…” The idol seemed far angrier than when Kim Chul had died, and it got up from its chair.

But the answer to the question came from Suho and not the mysterious old man himself.

“G-Grandfather?” Suho said.

“Hmm?” Sung Ilhwan’s nonchalant face suddenly broke out into a broad smile. “Well, who do we have here? If it isn’t my dear grandson!”

***

Sung Ilhwan, the father of Sung Jinwoo, the Monarch of Shadows, had recalled the memories of his past life because of a dream.

That dream again? At first, he had dismissed it, like it was a scene from a movie. It was just a simple scene—a childish one in which he fought monsters. And by the time he woke up, got out of bed, and made himself a coffee, he would remember very little of the dream. The memory would be wiped clean as if it had been erased.

Such a phenomenon was not surprising when it came to dreams in general. But erasing something too many times was bound to leave some kind of mark.

The dream again… At a certain point, he began to recall the things he had seen in the dream, even in the afternoon. He didn’t give much thought to it, since it was just a dream. There was one thing, however, that bothered him about it.

Why is Jinwoo always in it? His son, Jinwoo, always appeared in the dream. In particular, whenever he spoke with his son or did something with him in reality, he would have the same dream again that very night.

“Did you not miss me?”

At the end of that dream, his son always looked at him resentfully, asking him a question.

“I have always missed you.”

Ilhwan would always respond the same way, then touch his son’s face, which would be right in front of him. The tears that fell from Jinwoo’s eyes dampened the back of his hand. The tears felt so hot.

Ilhwan knew that it was just a dream, but his heart ached all the same. I have done nothing for you, yet you…

“You have become such an amazing man.”

To that, Jinwoo would respond with a terrible rage.

“Is it the Rulers?Have they used you and abandoned you?”

The Rulers? Ilhwan did not know who his son was talking about. But he shook his head in the dream.

“They simply gave me a choice.I chose to protect you, and that choice was not wrong.”

His hand began to turn to dust as it touched his son’s face.

“I wanted to spend more time with you and talk.”

Ilhwan had wanted to be with Jinwoo for a little longer, but he had forced his son to erase his father from his heart twice.

Ilhwan’s tears finally flowed.

“I’m sorry I was not a good father to you.”

With that, his entire body turned into ashes. Even as his body scattered, he saw that his son was coming close to hug the disappearing body of his father. There was intense rage in Jinwoo’s eyes. Ȓá𐌽ȯꞖΕṨ

“Aaaaaaaagh!”

The mana in the air vibrated, and the universe itself seemed to rumble.

“Do you hear me, Monarchs?You will pay for what happened today!”

The roar of the enraged Monarch of Shadows shook the earth.

That morning, Ilhwan had gotten up from bed and sighed, a hand on his forehead. The Monarch of Shadows? Oh, no…

And so the memories of his past life that he’d erased to enjoy an ordinary life with his son had come back to him. Perhaps such an outcome was inevitable. Jinwoo had become far more powerful than the Rulers, who Ilhwan had asked to erase his memories. It could not be mere coincidence that his memories had to return to him after living with his son for so long.

And as usual, all things happened for a reason. Not long after the memories came back, Jinwoo went missing. It was just like the time that Ilhwan himself had vanished in order to fight a lonely war.

Then the Great Cataclysm had come.

“Is the same thing happening again?”

Ilhwan had been unable to hide his bitterness as he saw that the gates and dungeon breaks were back. Sadly, he was too old to do anything. In truth, he probably could have done something if he had made up his mind, since even though he was old, he had developed mana like before. He had no intention of making the same choices in his old age, however.

He could still remember the resentful gaze of his son from that dream.

“Will you leave me again without a word, Father?”

Of course not.I can’t make the same mistake. Ilhwan had come to a decision. Long ago, he became a hunter and began fighting in the dungeons as soon as he developed the ability to use mana. He had a duty to protect the world, as well as the desire for the fame and wealth that would follow.

But this time, I will protect my family. In this life, he had remained by his wife’s side even though he had awakened. It would fall to the younger people to protect the world. Ilhwan had chosen to spend his last years with his beloved wife, growing old with her together. Of course, he did sometimes clean up some small dungeons near the house with the excuse that he was going fishing, but that was beside the point.

Then Ilhwan had discovered the black market that had formed near his home. At first, he had simply been intending to check what was going on inside. The moment he had set foot inside and seen the Itarim idol, however, a strange voice had spoken directly to his mind.

“What acharming soul you havethere.”

***

The idol spat blue rays out of its eyes. Ilhwan narrowly avoided them and approached Suho.

“Grandfather! What are you doing here?” Suho cried.

“My boy, I should be asking you the same question,” Ilhwan replied.

“Well, obviously, I am here to—” Suho’s eyes widened. Countless Star Fragments were embedded in his grandfather’s body. Chul and the other devotees had only had one stone in their foreheads, but he had dozens of them. “Grandfather, those are…”

“Oh, these? They captured me and nearly turned me into one of their experiments.”

“Inventory!” Suho immediately shouted, taking out a bunch of Echo Forest Spring Water. Avoiding the massive foot of the idol which tried to trample him from overhead, he put a bottle to Ilhwan’s mouth. “Have some of this first!”

“Mmf!” Ilhwan ended up drinking the antidote without knowing what it was. Despite the urgency of the situation, he seemed quite pleased to be speaking to his grandson again. “This isn’t very tasty. Is it supposed to be good for me?”

This is no time for jokes! Suho swatted aside the devotees who were attacking them and moved out of the range of the idol’s attacks with his grandfather.

The idol burst out angrily at Ilhwan, “You are a mere mortal! How dare you! High priest, rise!”

At the same time, blue energy shot out from Dongsoo’s body on the floor. It rose into the air. Dongsoo also had dozens of the fragments embedded in his skin.

“How did you escape the power of the Stone of the Outer Gods?” the idol shouted.

“‘Mere mortal’?” Ilhwan said, grinning. “Well, these mere stones were no match for me.” He tapped the fragments in his body. “Did you think you would succeed?”

The idol smashed the floor where Ilhwan had been standing moments ago.

“Gah!” Dongsoo flew over to attack as well, apparently having lost all control of his body. The energy he gave off exploded and destroyed one of the walls.

Ilhwan moved away easily and opened his arms. Shockingly enough, the dozens of fragments in his skin began to emanate blue energy all at once, enveloping his body much like what had happened to Dongsoo. The energy gathered in his hands and turned into dagger-like shapes, which he swung about. The energy split the air, flying toward both the idol and Dongsoo.

“How dare you! You are a nonbeliever! You have no right to use the divine power!” the idol said, even angrier as it shot more blue rays from its eyes.

“Grandfather!” Suho yelled, striking the legs of the idol as hard as he could. The statue lost its balance, and the rays twisted in the opposite direction of Ilhwan.

“My dear boy. When have you gotten so strong?” Ilhwan asked, smiling proudly. “You are just like your father.”

“Grandfather,” Suho said, cutting short his playful conversation and glaring forward. “Will you follow my lead?”

Ilhwan grinned. “Of course.” He turned to the idol, his eyes growing vicious as well.

At the same time, Suho ran as fast as he could toward the idol.

“Don’t you dare!” the idol thundered, firing more rays that narrowly missed Suho’s head.

“Haaah!” Suho raised his fist. He attacked the floor where the idol stood, not the statue itself. It lost its footing again. “Now!” he shouted.

Ilhwan suddenly appeared in front of the idol. There was a burst of blue light, and a system message appeared.

[“Blessing of the Itarim: Decrees of the Cartenon Temple” has been deactivated.]

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