Solo Leveling- Ragnarok

Even though he had finally discovered the true body of the Apostle of Evolution, Suho felt a little empty.

A pink brain trapped in a fishbowl.

Because of this guy, a pseudo-religion called the Church of God was created, and because of that, things

like stardust and star fragments were spread all over the world.

All because of this guy.

Suho asked.

“But how did only the brain remain?”

[It was a huge drain on mana to keep that old body moving. So it evolved into an efficient method.]

“That’s evolution?”

[I think, therefore I am.]

A famous quote from the philosopher Descartes.

The Apostle of Evolution wakes up in the body of an old man.

I read many books to learn about this world.

Meanwhile, those who had been forcibly indoctrinated with religion created a religious group called ‘Foreign Church’ centered around him.

In various ways, it began to gradually increase its influence in the shade.

And in the center of that calm storm, the apostle of evolution simply sat in his wheelchair, reading a book written by humans.

-Books… … . This planet really does convey information in a primitive way.

The Apostle of Evolution could convey any necessary information to his opponent in just one second if he wanted to.

So I became even more interested in this primitive and inefficient ‘reading’.

It’s so absurd.

-How inefficient is it to convey to others an extremely subjective and biased interpretation of what you just remembered?

Clink clinking… …

Even as he grumbled, the apostle of evolution continued to immerse himself in his reading.

This method of imparting knowledge called ‘reading’ only made him thirstier for knowledge the more he read.

Since the information in each book is different, it is impossible to establish a standard for what information is correct.

So I kept reading.

I read and read again.

The creatures here engaged in sharp debates through books and papers on even one topic.

And so, little by little, development was taking place at an extremely slow pace.

This too seems to be a kind of ‘evolution’, the apostle of evolution concluded.

He finally realized.

[After all, what controls the human body is the ‘brain’. That’s why I left only the necessary parts and degenerated all the useless parts.]

chuck.

The pink brain twitched and made a gesture as if it were turning up its nose.

[The result is now. How efficient is it? I just give directions within this, and gradually increase the number of puppets that will move like limbs according to my directions. That is the direction of evolution that I have decided.]

Yes, that’s right.

Foreign religion.

As he said, at this very moment, countless people, like his limbs, are actively working in various parts of the world under the name of foreign religions.

According to each person’s faith.

Following the orders from the foreign mission headquarters.

Driven by each person’s own desire to become stronger.

Stardust, star fragments, star rocks… … .

The magical power that is amplified accordingly and the wealth and fame that follow.

With these numerous baits, foreign religions have gradually grown in power.

Thanks to the chairman of the association, Woo Jin-cheol, the villains’ momentum has been suppressed in Korea, but the situation is different in other countries.

The larger the country, the more difficult it is to control criminals.

The villains were even more so.

Especially, the dark world where villains operate is completely run by the strong.

The ones who most desperately needed the stardust spread by foreign religions were the villains.

[… … That is how ‘foreign religion’ was born.]

Foreign religion.

At first, it was clearly a group that gathered under that name, but in areas where apocalypse has occurred, such as North Korea or China, there are cases where they have rather shed their religious colors and developed into city-states that are much more blatantly comprised of villains.

Just like the ‘paradise’ city that Suho had destroyed in North Korea so far.

And at this very moment.

Towering.

[… … .]

Suddenly, the Apostle of Evolution, who was talking to Suho, stopped talking.

[Ah, finally… … !]

Then, the pink brain in the test tube began to tremble and showed a strange sense of satisfaction.

Suho’s eyes narrowed.

“What is finally happening?”

Even in front of Suho, who raised his fist as if he was going to break the test tube, the Apostle of Evolution answered without paying any attention.

It was a voice that even made one feel excited.

[This means that everything is finally ready.]

Kugu-kung… … !

Before the Apostle of Evolution could even finish speaking, a tremendous vibration began to be felt, as if the entire space was about to collapse.

Suho, sensing something strange, immediately took out his sword and swung it.

Jjeong-

The test tube split in half, and clear liquid poured out.

At the same time, as Suho stretched out his other hand, the pink brain inside it floated into the air and flew towards Suho.

The apostle of evolution, caught in that invisible hand, was not bewildered, but rather showed interest.

[Ah, this is the power of the ruler. You are truly a wonderful person. If I had the time, I would have caught you and studied you myself… … It is truly a pity.]

“What does that mean?”

Even though his brain could have exploded if Suho had grabbed his hand at any moment, he was relaxed.

[At this very moment, the final experimental subject I created has just been completed.]

The moment I heard those words.

Suho expanded his senses to the extreme and explored his surroundings.

But I felt nothing.

This space, this dimension itself was simply collapsing.

[Get out of here quickly. This place will collapse soon. You can kill me or leave me alone. My role is over.]

Kkwarreung!

With those words, the dungeon surrounding Suho began to crumble miserably like a shattered glass window.

Along with the laboratory of the Apostle of Evolution that was inside it.

[Your Majesty! This way!]

Suho ran in the direction that Verga was urgently pointing at and escaped through the gate he had entered through.

Still holding the pink brain in his hand.

[Even if you take me, I will die soon. The test tube you just broke was forcibly keeping this brain alive.]

Suho felt strange at the calm reaction of the Apostle of Evolution in his hand.

“Why do you suddenly look so refreshed? You’re the guy who’s been researching immortality all this time.”

[Well, now I have no regrets even if I die.]

“What on earth have you done?”

[Hehehe. You’ll know someday. Oh, and by the way, even if I die like this, you will never be able to turn me into a shadow soldier. The fragment of me stored in this brain is not in good enough condition to become a shadow soldier.]

Suho knew that too.

The apostles of Itarim I’ve met so far couldn’t be turned into shadow soldiers.

That was similar to the reason why Sung Jin-woo couldn’t turn the dead monarchs into soldiers after the war with the monarchs.

This was because the apostles of Itarim were also beings of similar status to the dead monarchs.

But not everyone is like that.

The apostles of evolution have already seen it countless times.

That creepy sight.

The sight of Sung Jin-woo killing Itarim’s soldiers from afar in outer space and instantly raising them up as his own shadow army.

When you witness that absurdly great and overwhelming sight with your own eyes, even the enemy cannot help but shiver.

Maybe it was from that time.

The moment when the Apostle of Evolution wanted to imitate Sung Jin-woo’s great power.

‘The King Who Rules Death, the Shadow Lord’

That was exactly the pinnacle of evolution that the Apostle of Evolution thought of… … !

So as soon as he arrived on this planet, he started to study it desperately.

The result of imitating someone to gain powers as similar as possible is an immortal being like No. 47.

It was a soulless bioweapon.

But even though they looked similar, it was a huge disrespect to compare his dolls to the Shadow Army.

Not only is the inherent power different in size, but isn’t the most terrifying aspect of the shadow power that it steals the souls of enemies and turns them into allies?

On the other hand, what about his own test subjects?

Rather than the enemy becoming an ally, they had to be created one by one by hand.

However, no matter how much they wanted to produce it like a factory, the materials that went in were not cheap and an extremely delicate production process was required.

In a word, terribly inefficient.

It was a huge failure.

But the apostle of evolution was very fond of the human saying, ‘Failure is the mother of success.’

Thanks to experiencing such failures over and over again, he eventually achieved just one success… … .

The result was a bit different from what he had initially intended, but he was still quite satisfied with it.

[Sirka.]

… … !

Suho’s eyes widened at the name that suddenly popped out from the Apostle of Evolution.

“Wait, you really?”

[I was really surprised when I first found out. Who would have thought that there was a successor who in herited the power of the dead monarch? Who would have thought that there was a way on this planet to evolve ordinary creatures into apostles like us!]

* * *

That moment.

The place where Sirka sleeps, transformed into a pillar of ice.

Something strange was happening in front of the ice pillar where Woo Jin-cheol and Grid were slaughtering the villains who had come from China.

Swaaaah-!

“Wh, what?!”

At the sudden turn of events, Woo Jin-cheol opened his eyes wide and looked around.

Red blood soaking through the pure white snow!

The bright red blood from the corpses of countless villains who had died by their hands so far began to spurt into the sky all at once.

Choaaaak!

[Beware! It’s the divine power of the foreign gods!]

With a strong warning from the grid, everyone looked up with tense eyes at the bright red mass that had formed high in the sky.

It wasn’t just blood.

Grid, a former high priest of the Foreign Church, and Iron, a former priest, could sense the immense divine power within that grotesque, clumpy mass of blood.

Also, they instinctively realized why it suddenly appeared here now.

[Hey, stop it!]

[Don’t let that guy get near Sirka!]

It’s already too late.

Before they could even finish speaking.

Whoaaaaah-

A red lump of blood formed in the air and flew quickly in a straight line towards the ice pillar where Sirka was sleeping.

[Block it with your body!]

Without saying who would go first, Grid and Iron jumped into the sky.

* * *

“Did you kill time?”

Suho asked, glaring at the pink brain.

“You’re trying to intercept Sirka while keeping me here?”

[No. As I clearly said from the beginning, Hunter Seongsuho arrived much sooner than I expected. If you had just moved according to the schedule I had originally planned, I would never have met you here in the first place, and I would not have died by your hand. However, since the experiment was successful, this level of error is completely welcome.]

Although he was occasionally flustered by Suho’s sudden actions, the Apostle of Evolution’s attitude did not change much from when they first met.

The reason he told Soo-ho all his plans was not to waste time.

[Humans are the same. Originally, those who worked hard behind the scenes like me were anxious to share their achievements with others when they succeeded. In that sense, I just wanted to tell you with a pure heart about all the hardships I have endured. So now, I really have no regrets even if I die. Now, kill me quickly and go save Sirka. It is already too late, though.]

“You lie to the end. Either you learned well about humans or you learned poorly.”

Suho snickered as he watched the Apostle of Evolution giving his final words.

“You have no regrets even if you die? That’s not true. If you die here, aren’t you planning on going inside t

hat test subject yourself?”

[… … Huh. You continue to surprise me to the end. You are a human being.]

The Apostle of Evolution eventually burst into laughter at Suho’s sharp remark.

The laughter sounded like the hearty laugh of an old man, or the laughter of a reckless child.

[Hahaha! That’s right! And even if you don’t kill me yourself, the result will be the same! At this very moment, this brain has lost all its vitality. This voice right now is the last remnant of my remaining magic power…]

“Okay, I’m busy. See you there later?”

Suho stared at the brain that was losing its color, revealing his teeth.

and.

“Shadow Exchange.”

[Use ‘Skill: Shadow Exchange’.]

At that moment, Suho’s entire body was enveloped in shadow and his vision was turned upside down.

Shwaaaaak-

Suho, who had exchanged positions with Iron, saw a red blood clot flying towards Sirka.

“Hey, nice to meet you?”

To Suho’s greeting, the Apostle of Evolution, who had just entered the clot, responded.

But he had already become a completely different being.

Its existence is the culmination of numerous studies he had carried out before his death.

The last evolved form of the now dead Apostle of Paradise, who had completely fused the last nutrients into the deaths of the villains as a sacrifice… … .

[The Apostle of Nightmare is against you.]

The Apostle of Evolution appeared before the Guardian with a new name.

“Apostle of nightmares?”

Whoaah-

A terrifyingly massive murderous aura washed over Suho like a tidal wave.

Gooooooooo-!

[I will stop it!]

Grid confirmed that the guardian who had gone over to Russia had returned, and without hesitation, he jumped in front of the guardian and blocked the red tidal wave.

At first, it was nothing more than a red lump of blood, but then suddenly, as soon as the Apostle of Evolution took hold inside it, it began to emit an incredibly ominous aura and spread out in all directions.

This land, which was once a pure white snowfield, was dyed red even by this cold.

[There’s a strange aura all around! I don’t know who it is, so I’ll go first… … !]

Black steam billowed from Grid’s entire body as he stepped forward to protect Suho.

But the red tidal wave swallowed up the grid entirely like fog.

What was happening inside was completely imperceptible from the outside.

[The Apostle of Nightmare laughs at you.]

“Are you laughing?”

Suho’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Ber.”

[Yes, Your Majesty.]

Suho asked.

Showing off what was still in his hand was the ‘Apostle of Evolution’.

“What happens if you eat this?”

At those words, the corners of Ber’s mouth went up as if they were going to split.

[I’ll try it first and then let you know.]

Skill, predation.

Ber swallowed the ‘brain’ without hesitation.

Kyaoop!