Solo Leveling: Ragnarok

“Now then…” After naming Kira, Suho turned around. There was a reason he hadn’t left yet, even though the Jisan Prison incident had been handled—the queen bee who had unwittingly chanced upon his real identity still buzzed nearby.

“I’m sorry, but my true form has already left this place. Even if you search for me, you’ll never find— Eek!” Beru squeezed Arsha even more tightly, and the doll-sized queen bee’s body was squished.

This was all an act, however. This figure was just a copy of Arsha made with a small swarm of bees. It was a husk that was connected with Arsha’s real body only via the mind. Squeezing the husk couldn’t really hurt the queen bee.

“Young Monarch, you must find her and kill her. We can’t have this bee teaming up with some follower of Itarim at a later point,” Beru said gravely.

When Suho had revealed his shadow power in order to give the fight with Harmakan all he had, Arsha was nearby and had realized who the hunter really was. Therefore, the moment he had defeated Harmakan and the instance dungeon had disintegrated, Suho had sent his shadow soldiers in every direction to search for the real Arsha’s hidden location. It wasn’t easy, despite Esil and Gray, who had good senses, being deployed as well. This region was surrounded by thick forests and mountains, and given the countless bugs that lived in the forests, Pocheon was the perfect place for bees to hide.

Suho tutted, giving up on the search for now. He wasn’t stopping completely, however. Finding Arsha and killing her would be ideal, but there was a second option. And perhaps it’s the better one.

“Arsha,” Suho said, staring into the bees’ tiny eyes and asking directly. “You’re curious why you can sense Querehsha’s energy in me, aren’t you? That’s why you’re still here.”

The bees flinched.

“If you wanted, you could have escaped long ago.”

Suho was right. Arsha could always disintegrate her body, which consisted of countless bees, and fly away. The copy still remained in Beru’s grip, however, chattering about this and that.

“Even if this is just a disposable copy of you, it would be pointless to kill off your own worker bees for no reason.” Even before this encounter, Suho had guessed why she hadn’t done this. “You probably want to know what my connection to Querehsha is.”

The queen bee sighed quietly and confessed, “Yes. You’re perceptive, just as I thought. It’s true.” Her voice shook with anxiety.

Arsha had prepared to become the heir of Querehsha, the Queen of Insects and the Monarch of Plagues, for the longest time. For some reason, she could sense Querehsha’s energy inside Suho—though weak—and that had thrown her for a loop. It was so faint, however, that no one but another insect could have noticed—a pheromone of sorts.

I didn’t detect this in him when I first met him. She recalled her first encounter with Suho. Back then, only the smell of beasts had come from his body. I naturally assumed he was the heir of the Monarch of Fangs…

The problem was what she felt after their first meeting. When Suho fought Lee Minsung, Arsha’s former lancer, the hunter had given off not only the smell of beasts but some other kind of energy as well. His entire body had reeked of poison. At the time, Arsha had not connected this with Querehsha, and just assumed it was Lee Minsung’s poison. But today, the moment she saw Suho again from up close, she had become certain.

“Suho, don’t tell me—”

“Hold on,” he said firmly, cutting her off. “I can answer your question easily enough. It’s not much of a secret.”

Arsha’s eyes gleamed. Noticing her reaction, Suho smiled mischievously at her. “But even if I told you, would you believe me?” he asked.

Arsha clammed up, her face becoming grave. She knew from experience that humans felt no qualms about lying. Their lies were ingenious, even, and far more complicated than the camouflage employed by insects.

“So…” Suho said, a meaningful smile on his face. “Why not take the Oath of Trust with me first?”

The queen bee’s eyes widened. “You are a human. How do you know about that oath?” The Oath of Trust was a binding contract that would prevent those who said it from lying to each other until the agreement was ended. Not even Rulers or Monarchs could ignore this requirement should they take the oath.

“I taught him. That’s how,” Beru said with a haughty grin. The shadow ant had developed a hobby of telling Suho old stories whenever he lay down to sleep. This was a sort of instinct for ants, since they always fed their larvae until they were fully grown. Even now, Beru believed that Suho was a larva of sorts who needed his care, and was always eager to teach him one thing or another.

The queen bee sighed. “Fine. If it’s for mutual trust…” She accepted in the end. There was a problem, however. “How will you enter into the oath? It is inaccessible to those who do not have power akin to that of a Ruler or a Monarch—”

“No problem,” Suho said, opening his eyes wide and grinning. “Isn’t that right, Querehsha?”

A reply immediately arrived from afar.

[Querehsha activates “Oath of Trust (transaction).”]

[Those who accept will not be able to lie to each other.]

[Accept the “Oath of Trust (transaction)?”] (Y/N)

Arsha shuddered in shock. The dead Querehsha’s energy was suddenly emanating from Suho, enforcing the binding power of the oath. “H-how is this possible? Is this Querehsha’s… So you really are…”

The queen bee was bewildered, but Suho pressed her for an answer. “Now swear.”

“I-I swear.”

Suho also agreed, and a ding rang out.

[The “Oath of Trust (transaction)” is complete.]

[Participants of the oath, by mutual consent, cannot lie to each other until the contract is ended.]

[Querehsha looks on with satisfaction.]

Even Querehsha, who didn’t really like Suho on the best of days, welcomed this situation. He had decided not to kill Arsha, who was likely to become her heir.

Let’s see if this oath really works, Suho thought. He decided to test it. “I… Mmf!”

It worked. The moment he tried to utter a lie, no more words came out of his mouth. Satisfied, Suho asked Arsha, “Let’s get started. What do you want to ask me?”

“Have you become her shaman, Suho?” the queen bee asked immediately.

Suho nodded. “That’s right. I am indeed Querehsha’s shaman, and I have her blessing.”

“I knew it!” Arsha turned desperate eyes toward the hunter. “Please make me her—”

“My turn,” Suho said, cutting her short. Arsha tensed. “I have many questions for you.”

“Ask anything you please. I’ll answer your every question,” the queen bee said, bowing her head obediently. The role of a shaman was to choose the next ruler. Only by pleasing Suho could she inherit Querehsha’s power.

“Here they are, then. Arsha, are you in league with a follower of Itarim, or perhaps the Itarim themselves?”

“No. Absolutely not.”

“Do you intend to join them at a later point?”

“No. I will never do such a thing,” Arsha said resolutely. “The only thing I want is to follow in Querehsha’s steps and become the next Queen of Insects. I guarantee you, none who desire to become the heir of a Monarch will stand with the Outer Gods.”

“What is the reason? Is there a chance of exceptions to this rule?”

“I can’t speak for all races, of course. But the Outer Gods want to devour all the mana left in our world. The moment they accomplish their purpose, we will all be turned into mouthfuls of mana for them and end up in their bellies.” That was nothing anyone could want.

Suho rubbed his chin, nodding. “Hmm… So that means we don’t need to oppose each other.”

“Yes. So please—”

“Hold on. When you say ‘we,’ you’re excluding humans, aren’t you?”

Arsha was forced into silence for a moment. She sighed. “Yes. If necessary, I plan to continue to kill humans and take advantage of them.”

“I’ll have to kill you after all.”

Knowing that Suho meant everything he said, Arsha was overcome by fear. He was not only the heir of the Monarch of Shadows, but he also had Querehsha’s blessing. If he really tried to come after her, her eventual death would be inevitable.

“W-wait! I promise to only kill villains from now on!” Arsha squeaked.

“Then you could unfairly accuse someone of being a villain and kill them that way. Human laws are imperfect that way.”

“What would you have me do, then? I will do as you ask.” The queen bee was forced to surrender to Suho completely. She turned plaintive eyes to him, pleading, “I will be your slave if you ask it. Even if I inherit Querehsha’s power, I will serve you till my dying breath.”

“What an interesting thing to say.” A powerful, malicious energy burst from Suho’s body.

[Skill: “Bloodlust” has activated.]

The energy exploded outward, laced with Querehsha’s blessing as well. Arsha paled and screamed as she felt that overwhelming power.

Suho’s abyssal, dark eyes gaze down at the queen bee haughtily. “Until your dying breath, you say? You are an amalgamation of countless bees. That oath will have been fulfilled as soon as just one of your bees dies.”

“M-my apologies! Forgive me! I didn’t mean to pull any tricks!”

“Is that right? Then bring your real body before me right now.”

“B-but…”

“What? You don’t want to?” Suho smiled. “Are you scared that I’ll kill you right away?”

“Will you… promise not to?”

“No. I could kill you at any time. But provided that you don’t displease me, I promise.”

“But that’s not fair—”

“If you don’t like it, you’ll live the rest of your life as a mere insect, not the heir of Querehsha.”

This made Arsha despair. She had known from the start that she would be heavily disadvantaged in this conversation. Suho held all the cards right now. She was eager to have something from him, but he wanted nothing that she could offer. In fact, if anything, Suho would have liked to have her dead. That was why she had no choice but to put up with such treatment.

If she obeyed, however, she knew she would be rewarded. I’ll become the Queen of Insects, something I’ve wanted so badly. She hadn’t had the freedom to say what she wanted from the start.

Looking completely humiliated and discouraged, she nodded. “I-I understand—”

“Hmm?”

“Huh?”

At that moment, Suho and Beru made inquisitive noises. Suho, Arsha, Beru, and even Harmakan, who’d been in the middle of his punishment, went wide-eyed and turned to look in the same direction.

“Young Monarch!”

“Someone is coming!”

A being with an incredible amount of mana was racing in their direction along the mountain ridge.

“It’s an S-rank hunter!”

“Don’t tell me it’s Hwang Dongsoo?!”

The second reason that Suho had not yet left was because Dongsoo might appear after hearing the news of his older brother, Hwang Dongsuk.

“Everyone inside!” Suho commanded, and the shadow soldiers all withdrew.

The being landed in front of him with a crash—but it wasn’t Hwang Dongsoo. “Such a powerful stench of blood!” the man shouted, swinging a fist covered with white hairs as a vicious energy emanated from his body.

Suho quickly evaded the attack. The man bared his teeth and roared, “You avoided my attack? You’re a villain after all!”

“What? No, I’m not.” I’m Suho.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!