Solo leveling vol 7, p.19
Solo Leveling, Vol. 7, page 19
A chill ran up Bellion’s spine, and he hurriedly looked over his shoulder.
Whoops……
Jinwoo had been focused too intensely on the never-before-seen weapon. He met the eyes of the flustered Bellion and shot him an apologetic look.
Beru did not pass up the opportunity. He knocked away Bellion’s sword and streaked toward him like a bolt of lightning.
“Skreeeeeee!”
Shhhk!
However, it was Bellion who thrust his weapon into his opponent’s stomach, to Jinwoo’s surprise. Bellion’s reflexes were well beyond Jinwoo’s expectations. In addition, he possessed an awesome destructive power that could split the ground with a single strike. Bellion was, without a doubt, a soldier worthy of the grand marshal rank.
……Still, he shouldn’t let his guard down.
An insect’s greatest attribute was its tenacity, and sure enough, Beru expanded his body with the sword still stuck in his stomach. He swung down his enlarged fist on his opponent’s head.
Wham!
The impact was so great that part of Bellion’s helmet broke off, releasing black smoke into the air.
“Skreeee!”
Beru slammed his fist down a second time, or at least he tried to. Bellion managed to grab Beru’s wrist. Beru attempted to shake off Bellion’s grip, but Bellion wouldn’t budge.
Meanwhile, the knight pulled back his other arm and focused a large amount of mana on it. Then……
Whack!
Bellion punched Beru in the chest, sending the ant flying backward. The resulting shock wave ripped the surrounding trees out from their roots. The forest that was once thick with trees now had a clear path through it.
“Skraaaaaaah!”
Beru came to a halt by spreading his wings, but he could do little else before Bellion appeared right in front of him. Bellion hammered him from above and sent him hurtling toward the ground.
Whud!
Beru crashed into the ground like a meteor. Bellion followed close behind, and despite the impact, Beru jumped to his feet and fought back. Any other enemy would’ve been ripped apart by this point.
Shhhk!
Beru swung his claws at Bellion, who deflected them with a backhand and struck Beru in the head.
Bam!
What followed was a total slugfest.
Pow! Ka-pow! Pow! Pow!
Beru’s strikes were only able to make Bellion lose his balance momentarily.
Ka-boom!
On the other hand, Bellion’s attacks contained enough power to kill any other person.
Kriiiik, krak!
Beru’s exoskeleton cracked as if it would soon come apart.
“Skraaaaah!”
Beru fought tooth and nail to the end. When he attempted to bite Bellion on the shoulder, Bellion grabbed him by the neck.
Crack!
Immobilized, Beru thrashed in Bellion’s grip. Bellion concentrated a tremendous amount of mana in his other arm for his ultimate attack. It would be enough to crush a dragon’s head with one blow, and it distorted the air around them.
The victor was clear. Bellion’s fist flew toward Beru’s face.
Not wanting to see Beru lose his head, Jinwoo took hold of Bellion’s fist.
“Enough.”
Bellion instantly withdrew, then dropped to one knee and bowed his head. “My king.”
……Well done.
Jinwoo’s eyes twinkled with praise for Bellion for the display of his abilities that held nothing back. He then approached Beru splayed on the ground.
“Skree…… My king, I— Skrah! I can still fight……”
“……”
Jinwoo looked down at the pitiable ant struggling to stand. “Beru, why are you so determined to become grand marshal?”
“Urgh…… I…… I wish to stay by your side forever……,” Beru sorrowfully explained.
Jinwoo scratched his head. “The grand marshal will be my right hand, and you can be my left.”
“……!” Beru’s eyes widened at Jinwoo’s declaration. “My liege—”
“Don’t.” Jinwoo sighed at the emotional Ant King, then looked up as another soldier approached.
It was Igris, who had been listening in on their conversation. “My king, please allow me the opportunity to also issue a chall—”
Jinwoo interrupted him as if he had been expecting this. “And you can have my back.”
“……!” Igris had nothing else to say at his master’s foresight.
“I see…… So the Shadow Monarch has become our enemy.” The Dragon King, currently in human form, calmly received the report from the Monarchs already on Earth. In this darkness, the only thing he could hear were their voices.
“I understand. I will take care of him. Do not do anything. We must not sustain any more losses.”
The Dragon King ended the connection after fully understanding the situation. Silence fell. The gap between dimensions was a world in which nothing existed. Filled with emptiness, it was hell to the Monarchs, since there was nothing to destroy.
Born for the purpose of destroying everything in existence, the Monarch of Destruction had been making every effort to escape this place. And finally, his efforts would bear fruit.
The Dragon King turned and relayed an order to the creatures in the darkness. “Prepare for war, my soldiers.”
Dozens of ancient dragons, hundreds of dragon soldiers, and tens of thousands of dragon folk hiding in the darkness roared, their eyes glittering.
Raaaaaaah!
Late at night, Jinwoo sat comfortably atop a high hill. Under the bright moonlight, he could see the forest clear as day. He had given his shadow soldiers some free time, so they had spread out in the area below him.
The large frame of Fang and the dragons caught his eye. After talking with Fang, the dragons appeared to be engrossed in a serious conversation. Eventually, the largest of the dragons approached Fang.
What are those guys up to?
The other soldiers around them ran to get some distance from the four figures. Soon after, the big dragon shot fire into the sky.
Fwoooom!
Seeing the size of his flames, Fang sneered and took a step forward.
Fwoooooooom!
An incredibly huge pillar of fire shot out of Fang’s mouth and lit up the night sky. The high orcs cheered and whistled triumphantly, and the big dragon hung his head. It seemed they had made a bet about whose fire power was the greatest. But……
Isn’t it cheating to use the Sphere of Avarice?
Fang had been surreptitiously tucking the sphere away inside his clothes but froze and smiled awkwardly when he made eye contact with Jinwoo. Jinwoo burst out laughing at Fang’s gall but waved his hand to let him know it was fine. Fang grinned and bowed several times in gratitude.
It was peaceful. But although Jinwoo wore a tranquil expression, his mind was in turmoil.
……
He looked up at the sky. Jinwoo could faintly sense the life-forms from a different world growing ever closer. Their maliciousness and power prickled Jinwoo’s mind, though they felt like trying to make out a blurry object through heavy fog.
Who knows when they’ll make their move?
Jinwoo’s heart was heavy with the fact that there was no way to avoid the coming confrontation. He was lost in his thoughts for a while before he looked up again.
He spotted something strange and peered closer to see ant soldiers diligently carrying off lumber and stones.
……What are they doing now?
Before Jinwoo could summon Beru to ask, a voice came from behind him. “It appears they wish to build a small shelter for you to rest comfortably while we are here, my liege.”
It was a soft voice that didn’t suit the large frame of Grand Master Bellion.
Jinwoo nodded as he watched the ants at work. “I’m guessing this is Beru’s doing.”
The only marshal who quickly and passionately set out to do something Jinwoo hadn’t requested of him was Beru. On the other hand, Igris was the type to flawlessly carry out everything Jinwoo asked of him. And Bellion……
Bellion was still a mystery, as Jinwoo didn’t know that much about him yet. The strong bond connecting Jinwoo to Bellion had been forged with the previous Shadow Monarch. Jinwoo wanted to get to know his grand marshal.
Bellion seemed to have read his mind. The knight drew closer and stood right behind him.
“My king, why do you not call back your shadow soldiers?”
Jinwoo continued to watch the soldiers. “I don’t want them to feel imprisoned. They were stuck in the gap between dimensions before arriving here, after all.”
“……” Not expecting that response, Bellion didn’t say anything for a time.
Jinwoo asked him something in turn. “Aren’t you sad that you can no longer see Ashborn? The previous Shadow Monarch?”
Having lost his father, Jinwoo knew the pain of losing someone important. He assumed Bellion would feel the same way.
“I stood by his side when he tried to stop the Rulers in the rebellion against the Supreme Being. When he acquired power over the dead, I was the first to volunteer to be his soldier.” Bellion’s voice was steady. “I assisted him for nearly an eternity, and I never once questioned his decision.”
“That doesn’t answer my question, though.” Jinwoo repeated his initial question.
However, Bellion didn’t know how to answer him. “I……have never thought about my feelings.”
“That’s why I’ve given you an opportunity to think about them.”
“……”
There was a long and heavy silence, and in it, Jinwoo felt Bellion’s sincerity. Words hadn’t been spoken, but they’d still been communicated.
Jinwoo finally turned to look at him. “I’d like to hear the story of you and Ashborn, if that’s okay with you.”
“It is a long story.”
“Good. I need a story long enough to listen to until I fall asleep.”
As Jinwoo looked straight ahead again, Bellion took a seat next to him. “The story begins when I was still but a fruit in the World Tree.”
“A fruit? You used to be a fruit?”
“Every soldier of the sky is born as a fruit on a branch of the World Tree. The tree is enormous, and its branches cover the entire sky.”
“You don’t say……”
The night wore on as Jinwoo listened to Bellion recount the epic story of the Shadow Monarch.
The sun hadn’t risen yet as Jinwoo slowly ran through the forest. He’d gotten in the habit of running ten kilometers a day, so even though he no longer had any daily quests, it came naturally to him. While breathing in the fresh morning air, Jinwoo had almost finished working everything out in his mind.
……It’s time I head back.
He needed to inform people about the eight approaching armies that would arrive in the near future. He needed to let everyone know that war was coming.
Jinwoo could not promise everyone’s safety or that the world would ever be the same. The Dragon King that he’d seen in the Shadow Monarch’s memories was just that powerful. The Monarch of Destruction and the army he commanded turned everything before them to ash.
And their next target was Earth. That was why Jinwoo needed to give everyone, including himself, time to prepare.
He stopped running after exactly ten kilometers, even without the system to prompt him. Since he had done the daily quest almost every day without fail, he had maintained that muscle memory.
Of course, good habits weren’t the only thing that his body had memorized. He had learned through many fights and gained much power as a result. The previous Shadow Monarch had wanted to rest, and the last gift he had given Jinwoo was a fighting chance against the oncoming disaster.
Jinwoo changed direction and headed toward the sun rising over the ridge of a far-off mountain.
Now able to use Shadow Exchange freely, Jinwoo teleported to the Ahjin Guild headquarters. He materialized outside the office because he didn’t want to give anyone a heart attack, but he ended up running into a woman he didn’t recognize anyway. Although he didn’t know her, she did look somewhat familiar.
The woman must have also had the same thought about him, as she spun toward him and called out, “Um, excuse me……!”
“……?” Jinwoo wordlessly waited for her to continue.
However, she seemed startled by something, and she muttered that it was nothing and quickly sped away.
How weird.
Jinwoo entered the office.
“Huh?”
“What?”
The office workers froze in their tracks with disbelief on their faces.
Should I have said hi while walking in?
If people were going to react like this anyway, there had been no point in appearing outside the office. Even before he could pointedly ask if that was how guild employees should be greeting their president, Jinho saw him and gleefully darted toward him.
“Boss!”
Jinwoo immediately asked about the strange woman. “Who’s that person who just left the office?”
“Oh, that was my older sister. She showed up here because I’ve been ignoring her phone calls. Wait, was she rude to you or something……?”
“No, not at all.”
Well, that explained it. She had looked familiar because she was related to Jinho.
He glanced at the door and nodded. “So what did she want?”
“Oh……” Jinho hesitated and then peeked at Jinwoo’s reaction. “You know how I was with you before the massive gate opened?”
“Yeah.”
“Apparently I was caught on tape, boss.”
Jinwoo understood the gist of what he was about to say.
“My family wants me to turn in my hunter’s license and stop going to dangerous places now that I’m the vice president of the Ahjin Guild.”
Since Jinwoo, the guild master, was a hunter, Jinho, the vice guild master, didn’t necessarily need to be a hunter. His worried family members certainly had a point. Regardless, Jinwoo didn’t try to persuade Jinho either way, because he knew the younger man very well.
Jinho probably wants to accompany me as a hunter until the very end.
Although Jinwoo did all the heavy lifting, the two of them had been through life-and-death situations together. Feeling proud of Jinho, he reached out and ruffled his hair.
“B-boss?”
Jinwoo left Jinho flustered and went into the president’s office. He took off the clothes he had been wearing for a few days now, changed into new ones, and walked back out.
“I’m going to use the van.”
“Huh? Do you want me to drive, boss?”
“No, I’ll be right back.”
“Where are you going?”
“To the Hunter’s Association.”
As Jinwoo took the key and headed out, Jinho hurried to stop him.
“Wait, boss! There are reporters—”
But before he could tell Jinwoo about the journalists camped outside, the S-rank hunter was already gone. Sure enough, outside the building, reporters hoping for a big scoop were waiting for Jinwoo. Not having slept or eaten in days, they looked like zombies. Their response to seeing Jinwoo in person was explosive.
“Hunter Sung! It’s Hunter Sung!”
“Hunter Sung is here!”
“You’re filming this, right?”
Their voices died down quickly.
“Huh?”
“Wh-what?”
The perplexed reporters couldn’t believe what was happening. They looked down and realized that they and everything around them were floating about ten centimeters off the ground.
“How is this—?”
Fortunately, this strange phenomenon passed quickly.
“Oh!”
By the time the reporters returned to the ground, Jinwoo was already gone. They exchanged looks of panic, then burst out laughing.
“Ha-ha……”
“Well……”
They had nothing else to say. This was just one more thing to add in their articles about Hunter Sung.
Jinwoo drove Boonggo directly to the Hunter’s Association. Having already called ahead, he was met by President Woo and his entourage. However……
……What’s going on?
The association employees had ominous looks on their faces.
President Woo hurriedly approached Jinwoo as he got out of the van. His voice was shaky, but he tried to sound calm. “Hunter Sung……have you heard the news?”
8
INDIVIDUAL PREPARATION
……Strange.
Due to her brother’s stubbornness, Jinho’s older sister, Jinhee, was returning home alone. She carefully pulled her car over to the side of the road.
The man she had walked past as she left the Ahjin Guild……
Hunter Jinwoo Sung……
Everyone in Korea knew his face. No wonder she’d thought he looked familiar. A regular person would have shrugged and left it there, but Jinhee was the daughter of Chairman Yoo, a man well-known for never forgetting a face after just one meeting. Though she wasn’t as good, she had inherited her father’s talent for facial recognition. She was certain she had seen him at that exact angle where he’d brushed past her.
When was that……?
Her eyes widened as soon as she remembered.
Was it……?
It was at the hospital. When her father had been admitted for the Eternal Sleep Disease, she had passed someone at the hospital entrance with a similar frame. Why hadn’t she recognized Jinwoo back then? Though it was understandable, because she had been a little out of sorts with her father in a coma.
Yeah, that was definitely him.
Jinwoo had been the person she had passed that day. And right after that, Jinhee had been told that her father had come to, even though the doctors had been saying he’d never wake up again. Could it have been a mere coincidence?
Goose bumps covered Jinhee’s entire body, and she took out her phone to call her father.
