Solo Leveling: Ragnarok

Chapter 25

Beru recalled an old memory, in fact, two old memories. The demon race had faced complete annihilation at the hands of the Monarch of Shadows, twice. The first time was within the Demon Castle Dungeon. Then, once again after everything was reset. In the war between Sung Jinwoo and the Monarchs, demons were merely experience points for him to gain.

The Monarch of Shadows had perished countless demons until only one demon noble family remained—the 20th-ranked Radiru Clan. They were the only demon noble house that supported Sung Jinwoo.

But the family has met its demise? “It seems like there have been many significant developments in the demon realm.” Beru narrowed his eyes and gazed at the lifeless body of the deceased lesser demon.

To understand the full story, devouring its body was without a doubt the most effective method. Devouring a creature allowed Beru to read the memories of the consumed entity.

“Young Monarch, may I consume this demon?”

Suho’s gaze shifted to the demon’s corpse when a message appeared.

[It’s impossible to extract the target’s shadow due to tainted mana.]

He raised an eyebrow at the message and asked, “So, you can’t extract demons as shadow soldiers?”

“That’s correct,” Beru answered.

It seemed that the tainted demonic soul couldn’t be extracted because Shadow Extraction drew out the essence of the target’s soul.

Suho nodded. “Then eat it.”

“How delectable!” Once permission was granted, Beru’s lips split wide open as he began to devour the corpse. Ideally, he would have wanted to gulp it all down in one bite.

Chomp, chomp.

However, it took a bit longer due to his small mouth.

“Hehehe!”

Suho ignored the dreadful scene, wishing it would have been censored, and shifted his attention to the people gazing at him. For a while now, both collectors and combat hunters were staring at him with expressions of shock.

“That...”

“How did you...?”

It was a perplexing situation for everyone. No one knew what to say.

However, Dogyoon, who had seen Suho perform a similar feat before, stepped forward. “Suho, are you okay?”

His injuries had healed upon leveling up, but the bloodstains on his body had not disappeared. Based solely on his outward appearance, he was drenched in blood and looked as though he was on the verge of collapsing.

“Ah, yes.” Suho casually wiped the blood on his face with the back of his hand, unfazed by Dogyoon’s concerns.

“Um, excuse me...” The combat captain approached him hesitantly. “Perhaps it might be a good idea to go back to the association for another evaluation...”

The young collector had single-handedly hunted a C-rank demon. Regardless of his summoning skill, the captain was adamant that he wasn’t an E-rank hunter. It was obvious to him that a significant misunderstanding had been made.

“That’s not the important thing right now.” Dogyoon picked up the empty potion bottle the demon had discarded earlier and examined it closely. “The effects of Stardust aren’t usually this remarkable... What on earth is this?”

“Oh, you know about Stardust?” The expression on the combat leader’s face turned serious. He had also found it strange.

Dogyoon nodded his head. “Well, many lower-ranked hunters use it. The same collectors that canceled on us today managed to get some Stardust a few days ago and were overjoyed.”

Stardust was primarily favored by lower-ranked hunters rather than higher-ranked ones. Why? Because the mana enhancer had its limits when it came to amplifying abilities. Stardust was indeed an incredible drug that could turn an E-rank hunter into a D-rank in an instant. But it couldn’t inflate a D-rank hunter up to a C-rank unless they were on the cusp of reaching the level.

Thus, lower-ranked hunters were the perfect primary customers for Stardust. They consumed the mana enhancer and then visited the association rather than a dungeon. They went to have their mana reevaluated so that their rank would be adjusted to a higher one.

“I heard that the greedier Stardust users tried taking several potions at once to increase their amplification effects or experimented with sustained use. Either way, it seems like they failed and ended up wasting a lot of money,” Dogyoon concluded.

He had also heard rumors of a research team conducting long-term research to enhance the drug’s amplification effect. Strangely, the product was everywhere yet the identity of its creator was still unknown.

“Then why was that beast so powerful just now...?” the captain asked.

Belch.

Beru let out a satisfying belch and rose from the side. He then muttered as if his memories were forming a full picture like puzzle pieces, “Well, it’s obvious. Stardust is a drug created by demons, so it’s more effective for them.”

“What, what?!”

“Demons created Stardust?”

The hunters were astonished by this shocking truth.

“Is that really true?” Suho asked.

“Yes, it is.” The ant nodded with a grave expression. “However, the issue lies elsewhere.”

It was impossible to extract every memory of the prey he had devoured. But the fragments of information he had were profound.

“It seems like the ingredients of Stardust...” Beru’s subsequent explanation was truly shocking.

The process of making Stardust went like this:

1) Creating charcoal: They captured non-awakened individuals and forcefully injected them with blue fog to create mist burns.

2) Stoking the flames: They used humans as firewood for the mist burn to maximize their flames.

3) Roasting: They roasted mana stones soaked with demon blood on the blazing flames.

The charcoal nuggets created by the process were then ground into Stardust.

“So, that solution is diluted with water and put into these potion bottles for distribution?”

“Correct.”

As the hunters listened to Beru’s explanation, their bodies trembled.

“This is unbelievable.”

“Stardust was made by burning humans alive?”

“Then why was this demon here?”

The answer to the question was closer than they thought. Beru turned his gaze to the tunnel the demon had first appeared from. “If you follow that path, you’ll find the demons’ factory. Civilians that were captured as sacrifices are there as well.”

At that moment, a timely message appeared.

Ding!

[Quest: Rescue the Survivors.

There are people nearby waiting for you to rescue them.

Please rescue as many of them as possible.

The rewards will vary based on the number of rescued individuals.

- Current Survivors: 7

- Rescued : 0]

“There are still seven people alive?” There’s no reason to delay any further. His eyes sparkled. “I’m going to save them,” Suho declared as he took a step toward the tunnel.

“Wait, Suho!” Dogyoon urgently grabbed the young hero’s shoulder from behind.

Suho turned his head to look at him. “I don’t mind if you want to run away first.”

“No, this time, I want to go too.”

Hm? What’s with this coward’s sudden change of heart?

Dogyoon, trembling with fear, managed to gather enough courage and said, “With my skills, I should be able to carry at least one person.”

He knew that more demons awaited them down the tunnel, many more compared to earlier. Suho needed all the help he could get to rescue the people captured there.

Carry them... That’s a brilliant idea. Suho picked up the crow mask lying on the ground and turned his focus to the hunters looking for guidance.

“Then, let’s make a plan.”

***

The underground train tracks of Seoul Station stretched far into the abyss. Somewhere down the tunnel, a massive underground bunker was built for times of war or disaster. It was normally used as a construction zone, but now the bunker had been taken over by the demons for their factory.

“Why is the young one running late?”

The demons at the factory began to get concerned as the youngest member of the group hadn’t returned from his trash disposal duties.

“Maybe he ran into a magic beast on the way back?”

“Those damn lizards...”

At that moment, the iron door swung open. The youngster they had been worried about walked in wearing the customary crow mask. To their surprise, the cart he was dragging was filled with humans, and their eyes lit up with interest.

“Oh, what’s this?”

“Where did you find all this firewood?”

“I stumbled upon them,” the youngest answered, halting the cart and slowly nodding his head.

Clunk.

The cart jolted but the hunters inside, covered in blood, remained motionless.

“You didn’t kill them, did you? They’re less useful if they’re dead.”

“They’re still breathing,” the young one assured.

“Oh, I see. Our youngest is quite skilled.”

The timing couldn’t have been better as their ‘firewood’ had almost run out. The demons took a moment to rejoice in their fortunate turn of events.

The so-called “youngest” watched their conversation from a distance in front of the cart. His identity was obvious to everyone but the demons—it was Suho. The crow mask he had taken from the demon he killed allowed him to stealthily enter their factory.

The bodies sprawled lifelessly in the cart, layered in a pool of fake blood, were the members of the assault team. They had attempted such a daring infiltration due to Beru’s ability to gather information about the factory’s approximate situation from the youngest demon’s memories.

These demons use crow masks to distinguish each other’s identities. They don’t pay attention to details like appearance or voices. The reason was that the demons in the factory were not inhabiting their actual bodies. After having roamed through the dimensional rift, they possessed humans and took over their physical forms.

Beru had mentioned that even the Monarchs once infiltrated Earth by possessing human bodies. Entering directly with their immensely powerful true forms would require creating an enormous hole on Earth, which was a much more complicated process.

The demons seemed to despise their frail human vessels. They found revealing themselves, even to each other, to be utterly embarrassing. Thus, they covered themselves in black robes and wore masks to conceal their shame.

Fortunately for them, demons didn’t rely on visual or auditory cues when recognizing each other. They used their magical aura instead.

“Hm? Youngest, you...” One of the demons sensed Suho’s aura and tilted its head in confusion.

Suho gulped, his mouth dry. “Yes?”

“What’s that sword? It looks quite good.”

Vulcan’s Horn had devoured the youngest demon’s soul and was attached to Suho’s back. The demons instinctively sensed the sword’s extraordinary quality and approached him.

“That sword...”

“Okay, let’s stop the chitchat.” Suddenly, the crow-masked demon who radiated the most potent aura clapped once, capturing everyone’s attention. “Everyone, get ready. The gate is slowly opening.”

What? Suho’s eyes widened as he looked toward the direction the demon had faced.

Even the hunters who had been pretending to be dead in the cart couldn’t help but gaze.

Crackle!

A pulsating red energy was forcibly tearing apart the wall.

This is insane! Beru thought.

This information was absent from the youngest demon’s memories. It was unclear whether his memories had been intentionally erased, or if his lowly status had denied him the knowledge about the gate.

Good heavens.

Regardless, all of them simultaneously realized what the demons in this factory had been doing this whole time.

They were working on the final ingredient for Stardust. A mana stone infused with demon blood!

The demons here were currently inhabiting human bodies, so they were summoning a demon to be used for blood extraction within the factory.

Crackle!

The sinister red gate was a dimensional hole connecting the demon realm and Earth, and it was about to be opened.

These lunatics! “Everyone, prepare for battle. We don’t know who or what is coming through, but we have to eliminate them swiftly!”

As crimson light surged from the gate, the demons assumed a combat stance. Finally, an unidentified demon who had wandered the demon realm had been summoned before them. She had flowing lavender hair and slender arms and legs.

A woman?

The red gate closed behind her. The female demon’s condition looked dire. She was covered in blood and appeared to have suffered multiple injuries from elsewhere, but her eyes sparkled brightly.

“Who summoned me here?” The lavender-haired demon surveyed her enemies with a haughty gaze. Seeing their distinct hostility, she lifted the corners of her lips. “Ha. Are you also after my life?”

The lavender-haired demon revealed her spear and aimed it toward the other demons. “Very well, have at it then! I am Esil, the eldest daughter of the Radiru Clan, and I’ll fight to the bitter end!”