Solo Leveling: Ragnarok

An odd mood hung in the air of the black market’s gambling house. The demon spectators in the VIP room no longer seemed interested in watching the humans fight and placing bets. They were not paying attention to the games anymore, as their eyes were on the demon noble who had appeared out of nowhere and introduced himself as Vulcan.

My goodness.Vulcan is alive?

A real demon noble…

If I can learn to create bloodstones, I can also become a noble…

Countless eyes glanced at Vulcan—that is, Suho. The desire that burned inside the demons was clear enough to see. To demons, the raw, blatant desire for power was something akin to hunger.

Despite the tension that filled the air, Suho still seemed relaxed as he continued to watch the battle going on in the arena. He looked like a lion enjoying a break in the sun while he lay in the middle of the savanna. He was giving off the image of a true demon noble—at least in the eyes of the demons.

“Are you sure about this?” Esil asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Is there really a need to take such a risk?” Esil had been deeply worried for some time now. “Don’t you forget, my family died out because the low-ranked demons rebelled.They might be tempted at the moment by the sight of the bloodstone, but who knows if they’ll lunge at you all at once to devour you?”

“Well, that was because they had such an advantage in terms of numbers.”

“Are you sure?Is that really possible?”

“What are you trying to say?” Esil grumbled, sounding a little upset. She seemed to think that Suho was suggesting the Radiru Clan had been too weak to fight off such meager demons.

Suho wasn’t done yet, however. “And I’m much stronger than I used to be, right?I feel it in my bones…” His eyes traveled over the demons around him, and they flinched. “I don’t think I can ever lose to these demons, no matter how many of them come at me.” His eyes went cold. He looked like a lion surveying a ranch that contained hundreds of sheep.

“What are you trying to say?Don’t tell me that you’re talking about the Itarim?Are you saying they were behind the actions of the low-ranked demons even then?”

“I mean, it makes more sense, doesn’t it?How else would low-ranked demons take down a demon noble clan?”

Suho was all but certain. It was the same with the mad-blooded demons in the past. Demons were the perfect prey for the Itarim to enslave. Their mana was polluted, and shadow powers didn’t even work on them. For the Itarim, this meant they were perfect pawns to use to fight against the shadow army.

“To be sure…” Esil responded. Suho’s suggestion was persuasive, and she was forced to nod.

“So…” Suho smiled suggestively and opened his inventory. “Let’s loot everything they have, shall we?”

“I’ll bet on that human,” Suho said aloud, handing a bag of Stardust to Lotto.

The demon was taken aback by how hefty the bag was. “Vulcan, don’t tell me that you are going to bet all of this on a single game?”

“Can’t I?”

“There are no rules against it, of course, but raising the bet means the other customers must agree…”

Suho looked over at the other demons without saying anything. They quickly nodded.

“W-we agree.”

“Ahem! We can handle that kind of money…”

Demons abided by a strict hierarchy, and from the moment they had seen Suho summon a bloodstone, they had grown very respectful.

Lotto smiled bitterly at this. This is not good, he thought.

Since the nobility had vanished, the demon world had become a more egalitarian society. It was far from a democracy, which was a concept that humans were used to—but it was a fair world in that technically, anyone could be devoured by anyone else. The weak would be picked off, and even the strong could go down at the slightest show of weakness.

It was true pandemonium, a hellish state of chaos. The demons were doing everything they could to create a new order inside it, and one of the most major attempts was this black market.

And suddenly, a demon noble appears—even though we thought they had all died out! This new system was only just starting to stabilize when a remnant of the past had suddenly popped up out of nowhere.

It couldn’t be helped, however. The demons had witnessed this stranger producing a bloodstone in his palm. He had also promised them that he was capable of teaching them how to create bloodstones on their own. Realistically and psychologically, he had taken a dominating position. This would not allow for real gambling. The concern that Lotto felt immediately showed itself to be well-founded.

“Ahem. I will also bet on the human Vulcan is rooting for.”

“As it happens, I also happen to believe that human is stronger.”

“I as well…”

The demons were all betting on the same human competitor. Nobody was willing to risk betting against Vulcan. In the end, this bet simply would not go through.

Lotto rubbed his aching head and sighed. “Dear customers, if you all bet on the same human, the game cannot begin,” he said. His words had no effect, however.

“What can I say? I also think that human is likely to win.”

“Indeed.”

“And there is no reason for us to assume that Vulcan, the demon noble, has misjudged the situation.”

The demons shrugged, shameless looks on their faces. Lotto gritted his teeth.

“Tsk. This is no fun,” Suho suddenly said languidly. He smiled faintly and muttered in a low tone, “Hmm… Perhaps this will make things more interesting.” He then made a shocking statement. “The demon who wins the most Stardust from me will be taught how to make bloodstones.”

The demons stiffened, their eyes filled with shock. Soon, the air was ablaze with their immense desire.

“D-do you really mean that?”

“Not that we are doubting you, of course!”

“W-wait! Everyone, calm down!” Lotto cried. He did his best to calm the demons down, but the damage was done. The offer was so enticing that even Lotto himself felt an urge to join in.

“That should improve things,” Suho muttered. He seemed content with the excitement that the demons felt.

Suho opened his inventory, and the demons gaped in shock as he proceeded to pile bags of Stardust on the table until they formed a massive pile.

Suho smiled suggestively. “Let us begin.”

The demons cheered, and the greatest gamble of their lives began.

***

To these demons, winning a good round wasn’t down to incredible luck, a massive pool of funds to draw from, or even a sharp eye—not at all. They were actually certain that they could win against Vulcan.

This underground arena was not just a place where humans were simply pitted against each other for entertainment. The demons were simply the VIPs, and the gambling house’s actual customers—the ones who were meant to be fleeced—were the humans.

Audience seats circled the arena below the VIP room. These seats were filled with hunters who frequented the black market. They were guessing the outcome of the games and placing their bets.

The odds were fifty-fifty—it was a very simple game in which one of the two opponents was bound to win. There was more going on under the surface, however. Gambling houses always worked in the same way. They made customers believe they could win, and a loss was made to feel undeserved, like a stroke of genuine bad luck. In the end, the house always won.

I can always manipulate the outcome, Lotto thought. The moment Vulcan made his shocking statement, the demon did his utmost to hide a mocking smile.

Lotto stepped away to secretly give an order to the attendants who were working in the arena. “Use the mad blood poison.” He smiled to himself as he watched the demon attendants nod at him.

This was the very reason that he had dug out a space underground to make an arena. Because the VIP room was quite far above the arena, it was very simple to deceive the demons there and manipulate the odds. Even a demon noble would not notice that the poison was being used from a distance like this.

Having instructed his attendants to tamper with the game in a way that would not be obvious, Lotto smiled in a friendly manner and returned to the seat beside Vulcan.

Vulcan watched him as if amused. “Don’t tell me you are also taking part in the gambling,” he remarked.

“I am. This doesn’t happen often, but frankly, you are offering to teach how to make bloodstones. What demon could stay away from such a thing? But please, don’t worry. I may own this place, but different humans participate in the match every time,” Lotto said.

“You mean to say that there is no way you can cheat?”

“That’s right.” Lotto added his own bet to the table, grinning at Suho. Though he tried to stay calm, his eyes were already burning with ambition. “I will be the one to learn how to make those bloodstones,” he said.

“Well, at least you’re honest.” Vulcan—Suho—simply grinned and turned back to the arena. He muttered, “I suppose this is also entertainment.”

[Querehsha smacks her lips, smelling mad blood poison in the air.]

So they’re using mad blood poison after all. The message from Querehsha made him grin. He muttered inwardly, Querehsha, negate the poison.

[“Debuff: Mad Blood Poison” is being detoxified.]

The hunter that had been poisoned by the demons was cured.

“Beru…”

“Yes, Young Monarch?”

“Our turn.”

“Hehe!”

Beru’s eyes gleamed as he snuck into the arena. He crept into the shadow of the hunter that Suho had placed his bet on. As it so happened, this hunter was the same one with the beast transformation skill who had run completely out of money a while ago.

[Beru activated the skill: “Ruthless Command”.]

[Skill: “Ruthless Command” increases the target’s stats by 50%.]

[Skill: “Ruthless Command” has a side effect that causes the target to be afflicted by a curse of madness.]

The man’s eyes slowly began to descend into madness, and he growled.

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