Solo Leveling: Ragnarok

“The Church of the Outer Gods, you say?”

Suho’s expression had rapidly gone cold after he’d heard Lotto shout. All sorts of thoughts filled his mind at the moment, but for now, he had to stay calm.

“Interesting,” he said, letting go of Lotto. The demon collapsed onto the floor.

“Yikes!” Lotto quickly grabbed his neck to ensure it was still intact, then glanced fearfully at the hunter. Suho looked down at him haughtily.

All the demons present were under the natural misunderstanding that Suho—or Vulcan, as he had claimed to be—would have already known about all of this. Suho pondered what could be done in such a situation. I will say as little as possible and parrot whatever they say, he decided.

“You mean to say that the Church of the Outer Gods agreed?” Suho asked.

“Y-yes! By cooperating with us, they will be able to expand on Earth and increase their number of believers!” Lotto cried.

“Increase their believers… And this is the paltry result?” Suho looked around at the establishment, which had become a mess.

As the owner, Lotto seemed a little bit hurt. “Our operation isn’t paltry! This is not the only black market! Even now, we are cooperating with the church to utilize all sorts of methods for disseminating Stardust—”

“Cooperating, huh?” Suho smiled sarcastically and said, “It seems to me that you are just their slaves.”

“That’s not true!” This seemed to trigger Lotto. Apparently forgetting that he had been begging for his life moments ago, he shouted at the top of his lungs, “We are the ones who developed Stardust in the first place! We were also the ones who successfully manufactured Star Fragments for the first time! They are the ones that we demons are taking advantage of, not the other way around!”

“Is that what you really believe?”

“Y-yes…”

“Hmm.” A satisfied smile finally appeared on Suho’s face. He looked at Lotto as if he was proud of the demon, and in a sense, he was. How could I not be proud? He’s taught me quite a few things.

“Hey, that was pretty lit,” Esil remarked.

“Where did you learn to say things like that?”

“The internet.” The demon noble sounded genuinely impressed. In fact, Suho had acted the part of a noble to perfection. “Be honest with me.You really are Vulcan, aren’t you?”

“Shut up.Now we’re getting to the important part.”

Brushing Esil aside, Suho used Ruler’s Authority to levitate Lotto’s body. The demon paled as he realized once more that he had just talked back to a demon noble.

“If that’s what you really think…” Suho said solemnly, “then take me to them. I will meet with the Church of the Outer Gods myself.”

Lotto clamped his eyes shut as if he had been dreading this. At the same time, however, his brain was churning away at calculations. Wait… This may actually be a good thing.The church has been slowly getting out of hand,and Vulcan has probably come to see us with full knowledge of what is going on, anyway.

“I will take you to their temple right away,” Lotto replied.

“No need,” a new voice cut in.

“We have come in person.”

Suddenly, a group of figures came into the establishment, exuding powerful energy.

***

—Hunters Association,Yangpyeong Branch

“Is this true?!” Han Jaehyuk, who had rushed over immediately after Suho had contacted him, seemed very shocked when he was told about everything that had happened at the Yangpyeong branch.

Countless bees surrounded the building, buzzing about. A copy of Arsha was poking one of her bees as if she found it cute. With an attractive smile on her face, she nodded at Jaehyuk. “Yes. It’s all true. Isn’t that right, everyone?” she said, turning around.

The employees of the branch, who were gathered up and seated behind her, all shivered at once. The bees were circling them like piranhas. Each bee gave off some ominous mana, and they looked ready to pump venom into the employees’ veins if their queen so much as snapped her fingers.

Wh-what kind of skill is this? one employee wondered.

Where did that woman suddenly come from? another thought, aghast.

Suho had summoned Arsha as he left for the black market, and she had used her powers—which the branch employees mistook for a hunter’s skill—to confine the employees inside the building until the association’s Surveillance Division showed up to arrest them. Suho suspected that someone from the branch was in cahoots with the black market operators.

“My goodness. Mr. Min, I asked you a question. Shouldn’t you be answering me?” Arsha asked with mock politeness.

“Y-yes! I-it’s all true!” Min Daeseok cried, nodding effusively. All the blood had drained from his face.

Jaehyuk sighed, a hand on his forehead. “Arrest them all,” he said.

“Yes, sir!”

The hunters of the Surveillance Division arrested every single employee of the Yangpyeong branch.

How is this possible? Jaehyuk wondered. After hearing the entire story, he was left completely incredulous. How could a branch of the association protect a black market?This organization is becoming a farce!And Mr. Woo hasn’t even been away for that long!

In truth, it was a common enough occurrence for a large organization to suffer from corruption. But the Hunters Association had only been around for two years. It made no sense at all for something like this to have already happened. In fact, Jaehyuk even suspected that somebody might have infiltrated the association expressly for such a goal.

“Who knew that the Stardust necklaces were actually passes for entry into the black market?” Jaehyuk lamented, glancing downward. He also had one of the necklaces around his neck, and he grabbed it to tear it off.

These necklaces, which were going around as a way of commemorating those who had died in the process of making Stardust, had actually been welcomed by the people of the association. The organization itself had never officially sanctioned the necklaces, but everyone had started wearing them anyway, as if they were all part of some great movement.

For some reason, Jaehyuk stopped short as he reached for the necklace. At the same time, a thought came to his mind. Hmm… I paid for this necklace. Why don’t I just keep it on?I might need it in order to infiltrate the black market later…

“Hmm, do my eyes deceive me? It seems like you don’t want to throw the necklace away,” Arsha said in her alluring tone.

Startled, Jaehyuk locked eyes with Arsha, who was in front of him. She was smiling down at him mysteriously. As if she had read his mind, she whispered, “I always wondered why people wear these. I mean, if they are simply objects to remember the dead, why don’t people just keep them at home?”

Arsha softly touched the necklace that Jaehyuk was holding, then she tore it away. For the briefest of moments, a disappointed look appeared in his eyes. “You seem very sorry to be relieved of the necklace,” she remarked.

“Oh!” Jaehyuk suddenly jerked to attention, his eyes wide.

Arsha crinkled her nose mischievously and waved the necklace in front of him. “Stay alert. Weak humans can easily fall under its spell.”

Jaehyuk looked dazed. He felt a chill run down his spine. He had just evaluated his own emotions, and they struck him as extremely strange. I wanted to take the necklace back… I didn’t want her to take it away.

“Hmm, I wouldn’t worry about it too much,” Arsha continued. “From what Suho has been able to discover, the effects of the necklace disappear soon once you no longer have contact with it.”

This Arsha was merely a copy, while her real body resided in Suho’s shadow as he acted like a demon noble called Vulcan at the black market. As a result, she was able to relay the information Suho had just learned to Jaehyuk.

“It seems that these necklaces are made from a byproduct of the Star Fragment manufacturing process,” the copy of Arsha continued. “No matter how weak their effect may be, in the hands of ordinary humans, they will inspire attachment and a vague sense of worship. The Itarim are gods, after all—the Outer Gods.” Humans who came into direct contact with the power of the gods would grow reverent of these mysterious beings.

“Wait, the Outer Gods?” Jaehyuk was suddenly reminded of something. “Why do I get the feeling I’ve heard of something similar before?”

“You mean you’ve heard of the Church of the Outer Gods?” Arsha asked, her eyes glowing.

“The Outer Gods… Church of the Outer Gods? Oh! The church!” Jaehyuk looked around him, his eyes wide. He remembered where he was—this was none other than the Yangpyeong branch of the association. He looked at Daeseok, who had just been arrested. “N-now that you mention it…”

Daeseok had suddenly been assigned to this branch a few months ago because the previous branch head had suddenly quit for personal reasons. This previous head of the branch was an A-rank hunter selected for the role by Woo Jinchul himself, and someone Jaehyuk admired very much.

“Why did the previous head quit?” Arsha asked, tilting her head as he explained.

Jaehyuk gritted his teeth, recalling what he could. “All I heard were rumors, but apparently, he suddenly joined some kind of cult and disappeared…”

“Oh?” The claim that an A-rank hunter had joined a cult was simply absurd, but it was definitely possible if that cult was none other than the Church of the Outer Gods.

“He was such a kind person. But then, one day…”

***

The Church of the Outer Gods. Suho watched those who had come in with a frosty look in his eye. They were wearing priests’ uniforms, and each had a blue Star Fragment in the center of their forehead.

The middle-aged man who stood in the center of the group walked out and smiled benevolently at Suho. “Welcome. You are Vulcan, the demon noble?”

“And who are you?” Suho asked.

“I am a priest who serves the great Church of the Outer Gods. In secular society, I went by the name Kim Chul.”

“Huh?!” Beru shrieked from the shadows. He had just returned after exploring the surroundings. He cried with a broad smile, “Iron, you’re back!”

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