Solo Leveling: Ragnarok

Chapter 36

[Divine Blessing: Rakhan’s Blessing]

The blessing of the Beast King, Lord Fangtooth.

Lord Fangtooth Rakhan has chosen you as the Shaman of the King’s Sacrifice.

The Shaman can imbue their body with the spirit of a beast.

Effect ‘Beast Deification’: Possess the pet ‘Gray’ in your body.
“Shaman? Beast Deification?”

Rakhan chuckled contentedly as he looked at the information window that appeared in front of Suho with curiosity.

[Hehehe, that’s right. You are now the shaman of our tribe. Since I am already dead, you have become the only royal servant of Gray.]

“Serve Gray?”

Suho looked puzzled.

Gray was his pet.

To be a shaman who serves a pet as a king, what a strange situation.

“Like a cat butler? It makes sense when I think about it again…”

Suho nodded in understanding.

In any case, gaining a new ability was a welcome event.

And Rakhan’s goal was ultimately to have Suho dream of Gray more often.

For that to happen, Suho had to be with Gray more, but the problem was that Gray was currently too weak and useless.

But what if Suho used the shaman’s ability, ‘Beast Deification’?

[If you use that ability, you will be able to borrow the power of a beast for a short time. And as Gray grows, the power you can borrow will also become stronger.]

“So you’re telling me to take good care of Gray from now on?”

[Well, something like that.]

Suho and Rakhan looked at each other and chuckled at the same time.

Suho found it fascinating.

“Father said he died, but he’s cooler than I thought.”

[Well, it’s too late now. It’s only natural for a weak beast to be eaten by a stronger one.]

Rakhan laughed hysterically as he reminisced about that time.

[Your father was incredibly strong, and I was scared and struggled, but in the end, I was eaten. It’s just that simple.]

Survival of the fittest.

The king of beasts, who once ruled at the top of the ecosystem, accepted his own death without resistance.

[Oh well. The time allowed to me is already over.]

Rakhan looked up at the sky and sighed regretfully.

The once pristine world was gradually being tainted with dark shadows.

The overwhelming emptiness was creeping in.

As the space for movement grew narrower, Lakan’s body shrank accordingly.

Eventually, Lakan returned to his original form, the young man that he had shown to Suho initially, and approached Suho, handing something over.

“Take this and leave this place. This is my death and resting place. You should go back and live your life,” said Lakan.

Suho received “Lakan’s Fang” in his hand.

“But why just one?” Suho asked.

“I combined them. Those fangs were too pitiful to be considered relics of a king, as they were pulled out when I was too young. Now that I’ve combined them into one, they should be more useful,” replied Lakan with a smirk.

Sssaa.

At that moment, the black shadow completely engulfed the world.

With a faint smile on the corner of his mouth revealed through the gap of the shadow, Lakan bid his final farewell.

“Then, see you again, Priest.”

Time, which had been frozen, began to move again.

***

“……Ah.”

The scenery changed back in an instant.

Suho was still standing on Arachnae’s corpse, just as before.

The events that had just happened felt like a dream.

But the evidence that the encounter with the Lord of Fangs was not a dream remained in Suho’s hand.

The two Lakan’s Fangs that he had been holding in both hands had merged into one, taking on a more sturdy and sharp form.

And above all, the stats had changed incomparably from before.

[Item: Lakan’s Fang]

Acquisition Difficulty: ??

Type: Sword

Attack Power +60

It is a sword made from the fangs of the beast king, Rakan.

Rakan’s spirit is imbued within, and it can even possess the body of a weak-willed wielder.

Effect ‘Scorn of the Weak’: Causes the designated target to be in a state of fear for 1 minute. (All attributes -50%)

Effect ‘Deadly Strike’: Has a 20% chance to deal over triple the normal damage.

“They combined them into one, and even their stats have been inflated.”

The attack power, which was +30, has now changed to +60, and the Deadly Strike effect has increased from 15% to 20% and from double damage to triple damage.

“My Lord?”

Just as Bergh approached, surveying the surroundings with a puzzled look.

“It seems your energy has changed suddenly.”

“Could it be that you met the spirit of the king? I can sense the power of a priest from you.”

Rakan’s fang that was in his hand spoke.

“That’s right.”

“Eek! You met the Lord of the Fangs? How, how did you?”

Bergh was shocked by Suho’s response.

Meeting the spirit of a deceased ruler who has entered eternal rest was absolutely impossible.

Even the Shadow Lord Sung Jin-woo, who transcended death, couldn’t do such a thing.

Suho looked at Rakan’s fang and spoke.

“So, you are the fang that I had originally.”

“That’s correct. The artifact that was here, I ate it and got rid of it.”
Thanks to becoming a priest.

He could tell the identity just by hearing the voice.

“Should I go back now?”

Suho suddenly looked around.

The hunters who were bound by spider webs seemed to be mostly unharmed.

However, all of them were sitting on the floor, staring at him with vacant expressions.

“He’s the king.”

“That hunter gained the power of the king.”

They all witnessed Suho defeating Arachne.

Even the scene of him personally extracting the artifact from her body.

But no one dared to approach Suho.

It was because of the overwhelming presence of the situation.

And Suho, who had achieved his goal, didn’t pay them any attention at all.

As he turned his head, the Shadow Wolves were sitting obediently in front of the piles of magic stones extracted from the bodies of the dead spiders at Bergh’s command.

Praise, praise, praise, praise.

Praise, praise, praise, praise.

Like hunting dogs bringing their prey, they were looking intently with shining eyes.

“Yeah, sure. Good job.”

“Hehehehe!”

The shadow jackals, who had been grinning widely like sunflowers, stuck out their tongues in response to Suho’s reluctant praise.

They were truly cunning creatures.

They had been ready to bite Suho’s neck with their sharp teeth at the beginning.

“Then let’s go back.”

“Yes, sir.”

Suho left the botanical garden without hesitation.

The hunters who had been watching his back blankly heaved a sigh of relief the moment Suho disappeared completely from their sight.

“Hoo-ah….”

“He, he’s alive.”

The reason why the hunters had been unable to breathe properly and had been tense all along had a good reason.

Even though he had been controlled by spider webs, they had all been the ones who attacked Suho. Moreover, it had been during the most desperate moment for Suho.

If Suho had wanted revenge, they would have had no way to resist even if they were exhausted.

But Suho had defeated only the giant spider Arachne and disappeared effortlessly.

Someone spoke up first.

“So, that guy finally obtained the King’s power, huh?”

“Seems like it.”

“Huh, I’m really jealous. How amazing of a skill did he receive?”

“Is that really the issue now? Let’s just be grateful that he saved us.”

The hunters, who finally realized that they were alive, heaved another sigh of relief.

Then, they suddenly became curious.

“By the way, who do you think that hunter was?”

“Yeah. He was wearing a strange mask, so I couldn’t see his face.”

“It was too dark here anyway. He seemed to be traveling with a few animals. Maybe he’s a summoner?”

“Nonsense. Which summoner fights so fiercely? Didn’t you see him kill the spider with his bare fists? He probably just tamed a few hunting dogs.”

The hunters gathered here were all holders of Beastification Skill.

Among them, there were some who were good at communicating with animals, so they didn’t pay much attention to the shadow jackals.

Moreover, the fact that the shadow jackals were only visible as silhouettes due to the excessive darkness in this place also had an effect.

“Then why would he hide his identity?”

“Yeah, why? Is he a criminal or something?”

Of course, Suho, the person in question, had no intention of hiding his identity. The item he had used had been specifically for the dark inside the botanical garden, and he had taken it off as soon as he left.

However, this had made the hunters even more curious about Suho’s true identity.

And then suddenly.

“…Huh?”

Someone who was looking around frowned.

“Where did all the spiders go?!”

The corpses of the giant spiders that were lying lifeless in the darkness had suddenly vanished.

Even the bodies of the smaller spiders were gone.

“Did these creatures dissolve into nothing when they died?”

The hunters who were considering taking the bodies of the spider corpses as trophies sighed deeply.

Today, they had struggled and fought hard, only to end up empty-handed.

[Keheh.]

Somewhere, Berga laughed.

***

Outside the botanical garden,

“What, what is it?!”

“The smell suddenly disappeared?”

The hunters who were wandering through the jungle in pursuit of becoming the king sniffed in confusion at the sudden disappearance of the scent that had been guiding their instincts towards the path of the king.

And then, they realized.

“The king has been decided!”

Someone else had beaten them to it.

Upon realizing this fact, a sense of deep disappointment and jealousy surged simultaneously in the hearts of the hunters.

“Sigh….”

The hunters were greatly dismayed.

Watching their reactions from a higher place, the hunters of the White Tiger Guild asked White Mihwa,

“Vice Chairman, what will you do now? Will you go back?”

“Before going back, I want to confirm with my own eyes who has become the king.”

“But in this vast place, how can we find out who that person is….”

“At least we can identify them by their scent. The strong scent of a beast can be instinctively….”

Sniff.

At that moment, White Mihwa’s superhuman sense of smell caught something.

She turned her head to confirm and saw the man she had seen earlier returning from the same path.

However, unlike before, the smell of blood coming from his body was overwhelming.

“Sniff sniff?”

“…Is this not the smell of human blood. The color is also different.”

White Mihwa’s sense of smell could distinguish between the scent of beast blood and human blood.

The scent emanating from the man’s body was that of beast blood.

“Hmm?”

Suddenly, White Mihwa noticed something strange.

“But are there any beasts in this forest that would shed blood?”

Fighting beasts that shed blood in a forest that was either full of plants or ghosts?

“Could there be more beasts further inside? Or perhaps, could this author possibly be the king’s….”

At that moment, Suho, who felt someone’s gaze, turned his head and looked in this direction.

And he met eyes with Baekmiho, who was looking at him from a distance.

For a moment, their gazes intertwined in the air.

‘…No, it’s different.’

Baekmiho, who had been looking piercingly at Suho with his supernatural vision, stopped his rising speculation.

This place was, after all, where the king of beasts was chosen.

But there was no scent of a beast coming from that man.

Baekmiho eventually averted his gaze from Suho.

“Let’s wait a little longer.”

“Yes, Lady Vice Leader.”

After that, the White Tiger Guild continued to guard the place for a long time.

Even until Suho arrived home by bus, took a shower, and even ordered chicken to eat.

‘…But why did that woman look at me?’

Suho thought as he tore at a chicken leg and suddenly remembered Baekmiho’s face that had met his eyes earlier.

‘I feel like I’ve seen her somewhere. Was she a famous hunter?’

He turned on the internet to search for it, curious if anything would come up.

And he immediately opened his eyes wide.

“What, what is this?!”

The internet was ablaze with articles about the Magok Field, and the protagonist of all these issues was none other than Suho himself.

-(Hot News) Beast King Crow!

-Unknown Hunter who obtained the power of the king, Crow!

-Why did Crow wear a crow mask?

-(Advertisement) Hot item of the year, Crow mask

-(Related search term) Powerful and cool

“Beast King Crow? Powerful and cool?”

Various embarrassing nicknames were attached to him.

“No, I’m not some chuunibyou (middle school syndrome)….”

Suho covered his face with embarrassment.

Just then, a message appeared as if saying he had waited.

[The King of Beasts, Lord Fangs, says the priest’s nickname is perfect, keke.]