Kwaaaaaaaang!
The hundreds, thousands of barriers Kandiaru had deployed were truly absolute. A masterpiece containing all the essence of the Great Sorcerer of the Demonic Spirits, powered by the infinite divine energy of the 'Unwithering Spring.' But…
Swish-swish-swish-swish-swish-swish-swish-swish-swish!
Sung Suho's daggers tore all of it apart. The black flames imbued with the Dragon King's mana of destruction and the blades moving along his father's trajectory rendered the barriers meaningless, like a hot knife through butter.
[Skill: 'True Slaughter' destroys all barriers.]
[Kuk…!]
Kandiaru gritted his teeth. The monster born from the system he himself had designed was now aiming its blades at him. And not even the man himself, but his mere son! Perfectly piercing the 'vital points' of all the magic he, the new Monarch, had deployed!
Swish-swish-swish-swish-swish!
[Th-this cannot be…!]
Kandiaru desperately clutched at the shredding net of magic. But it was meaningless. Driven into a corner, he finally resorted to his last measure.
[Fine, then! I shall make you destroy with your own hands the very things your father sought so desperately to protect!]
Flash!
At that moment, a jet-black energy of curses erupted from Kandiaru's body, spreading across the entire globe. It was the most malevolent curse of the Monarch of Transfiguration, one that directly affects the soul.
[The King of the Demonic Realm, Monarch of Transfiguration uses Authority: 'Echo of Despair'.]
At that instant, a direct and absolute 'despair and fear' pierced all of humanity. The curse, true to its name, spread across the globe in an instant, like an echo.
"Uwaaak!"
"Kyaaak!"
Suddenly, horrific screams and shrieks burst from people's mouths. All over the Earth.
"Uuup! Bleegh!"
Eventually, people began to vomit and collapse on the spot. A fundamental despair that dug directly deep into the soul. It was like a plague. And a fear of death instantly cast its shadow over everyone who had been looking up at the sky, cheering for Sung Suho's battle.
"S-save…."
"Please…"
It was truly a curse. The end of the world was reflected in people's eyes. And in their ears, the screams of their loved ones dying played like auditory hallucinations. The worst-case scenario, where all of humanity was taken hostage. Kandiaru laughed triumphantly, shouting at Suho.
[Behold, Sung Suho! Your father always fought to protect those insignificant creatures! Those pitiful humans, saved by his noble sacrifice, will now die because of you! Because of you! Cursing you! Will you still continue to defy me! Will you render your father's sacrifice meaningless!]
Kandiaru was certain. The humanity that Sung Jinwoo sought to protect. His son, Sung Suho, could never abandon them. Taking humanity hostage, he would make that strong body and soul his new vessel. He would eventually submit.
"You… Are underestimating humans…"
Suho didn't even blink at Kandiaru's threat. Rather, his eyes, far from wavering, held a look of ridicule, as if looking at something pathetic.
[Wh-what did you say…?]
At that moment, Kandiaru witnessed an unbelievable sight. At the same time as Suho's words left his mouth, the people who had fallen into despair across the globe began to rise, one by one. The curse that had shackled their souls was being repelled like a mirage.
[What is this…! Why is my curse?!]
While Kandiaru was in shock, the truth was revealed. The cursed people were screaming, instinctively throwing themselves into the nearest virtual reality game capsules!
Ting-ring—!
Just as Kandiaru's curse spread across the globe, a text notification began to ring on everyone's phones worldwide, all at once. It wasn't a disaster alert from the government, but something completely different.
[Emergency Patch Notice]
Please evacuate to the 'Tower of Trials' by connecting to the nearest capsule immediately. The source was 'Ahjin Soft.' The game company that had developed the first virtual reality game and popularized capsules for humanity. It was an emergency notice urgently sent out to users worldwide by its CEO, 'Yoo Jinho.'
People did not hesitate.
"Kkeuk…!"
Even amidst the curse of despair, they barely managed to move their bodies, find capsules, and get inside. The twenty-some years that Kandiaru had spent hiding from Sung Jinwoo was a very long time for humanity, which experienced the passing years much differently than the other long-lived races. In that time, virtual reality games had become popularized for everyone, young and old. And game capsules had become something everyone owned at least one of, like a cell phone. At home, at work. The streets were filled with places where one could use game capsules.
People found the nearest capsule and lay down.
At that moment…
Ting!
[Connecting to 'Solo Leveling: Ragnarok'.]
Ting!
[Entering 'Tutorial: Tower of Trials'.]
Fwaaaaaah!
Their souls instantly left their bodies and were sucked into the 'avatars' prepared in advance in the Tower of Trials. As a result Kandiaru's curse, which targeted the soul, lost its effect the moment the people's souls had moved to another dimension. And then…
Flash!
Inside the Tower of Trials, the people who had opened their eyes simultaneously within countless avatars were all granted one name.
'Sung Jinwoo.'
From within Nidhogg, the King of Monstrous Humanoids, Monarch of Trials Ammut, informed Suho of the fact. Everything was going according to plan.
[It's a success. Most of humanity has evacuated to the Tower of Trials!]
Suho, hearing Ammut's report, smiled faintly at Kandiaru. His lips drew a curve, but his two eyes, glaring at the creature, were filled with blazing fury.
"Thank you. Thanks to the system you created, now all of us can fight you. Just like my father!"
[…?!]
The moment he heard those words, Kandiaru's eyes widened at the encroaching sense of foreboding. He knew well what the Tower of Trials was. He couldn't not know. The black pyramids erected in major cities across the globe. Those towers were, in fact, structures he had created long ago.
'A laboratory for researching the art of the Iron Body.'
The place where various experiments were conducted to create a vessel capable of containing the Shadow Monarch was precisely the Tower of Trials. It was Kandiaru's own past legacy.
But 'Ammut,' who was merely a test subject in that laboratory, had at some point become a Monarch. He had proudly seized the Primordial Darkness with his own strength, and after escaping from Kandiaru's prison that had confined him, he had instead made the tower itself his own authority. The result was astonishing.
[The King of Monstrous Humanoids, Monarch of Trials, Ammut uses Authority: 'Tower of Trials'.]
Flash!
That authority, surprisingly, succeeded in evacuating the souls of the people afflicted by Kandiaru's curse to another dimension. Moreover, the game capsules, the gates for entering the Tower of Trials, were astral projection devices already enhanced with the magical equipment made by the numerous Shadow Demonic Spirits loyal to Sung Jinwoo during the development stage.
Their performance was such that they could even sustain the lives of those afflicted with the 'Eternal Slumber.' And they prevented even those whose souls had already departed to the Sea of the Afterlife, rampant with the Debuff: 'Death,' from dying.
For the capsules, which had endured even the Sea of the Afterlife, to escape the curse of Kandiaru, who was 'merely a Monarch,' was a very easy task. However, Suho's plan was not merely this. From the very beginning of his leveling, Suho had clearly known who his enemy was, long ago.
'A God.'
No matter how high his level rose, he knew that his opponent was a 'god.' Though his immediate reality was just leveling up one by one, even then, Suho's eyes were always fixed on the far end of the distant universe. So all the events unfolding now were a part of the grand picture Suho had started drawing since level 1.
At this very moment, Kandiaru saw it. Thanks to spreading the curse across the globe, he witnessed this phenomenon occurring simultaneously all over the world.
Wooooooong—!
The black pyramids that had been erected in the major cities of every country! White pillars of light were shooting up into the sky from the top of the 'Towers of Trials' all at once! The dozens, hundreds of pillars of light emanating from all over the Earth bent their direction, merging into one massive stream. And that tremendous light flew towards Suho, who was fighting Kandiaru.
[Don't tell me you!]
Kandiaru's eyes, looking at Suho, were stained with horror. An unbelievable sight overwhelmed his vision.
Fwaaaaaaah!
Far away, within the pillar of light flying as one massive entity, were hundreds of millions, billions of souls. All of them bearing the name 'Sung Jinwoo.' Riding the numerous avatars cultivated by recycling the cells of the Apostle of Conquest! They were charging this way!
[What, what on earth have you done…!]
Kandiaru couldn't understand. Power was always the prerogative of the chosen few. It was only right to prevent insignificant beings from growing and threatening the position of the strong. But Sung Suho did not choose the path of becoming strong alone. Instead, he chose the most foolish method: the path of growing all the weak along with himself.
At that moment, Suho's eyes met the bewildered Kandiaru's. And Suho's dagger, having cut through all the barriers, pierced his heart.
"All humans grow. No matter how weak and clumsy at first, they are beings who can become endlessly stronger through repeated trials. Among them, the strongest person is my dad, though."
Suho's eyes shone coolly.
"That's all the more reason, we cannot be the ones to hold my father back."
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa—!
And Nidhogg, having become one with the pillar of light containing all of humanity's aspirations, pierced straight through Kandiaru's body. Its momentum did not stop there. It passed straight through the giant, horrified eye of the Outer God that was behind him.
[Kraaaaaaaaaak—!]
Along with the Outer God's horrific final scream, space-time twisted.
Boom!
Thus, the pure white trajectory carrying Suho and the entirety of humanity, crossed the distant dimensional wall, piercing straight into the dimension ruled by the Outer God.
"Success."
Suho looked up at the Outer God, now missing one eye and trembling with rage, and smiled deeply. But that smile did not last long. Along with him, the gasps of all humanity who had arrived in this strange dimension were heard.
Ruuuuuumble—!
The wounded Outer God's rage became thunder and lightning, covering the entire sky. Overwhelming terror! The real war began now. The unbearable wrath of the absolute being descended.
Craaaackle!
At that moment, Suho reached out towards Kandiaru's tattered corpse.
'Ruler's Authority!'
Hwaak!
An invisible hand pulled Kandiaru's body this way. And then…
[Using Authority: 'Shadow of the World Tree'.]
Splurch!
Suho, with his bare hands, tore out the masterless Primordial Darkness dwelling within him.
"Beru!"
He immediately shouted towards Beru, who had exhausted his power and shrunken down again.
"Devour this!"
[Kieek—!]
Then, as if waiting, Beru swallowed Kandiaru's corpse. No… 'Yuri Orlov's corpse, whole.
Kwaaduk!
[Skill: 'Predation.']
The main skill of the King of Ants, Marshal 'Beru' .
'Predation', could absorb a part of the devoured target's memories and abilities. Which meant—
Gulp—
Beru, who had shrunk again, swallowed something. At that moment. The system messages, which had never worked on Beru until now, began to pour out notifications about him for the first time.
Ting!
[Marshal Beru consumes 'Yuri Orlov'.]
Ting!
[Marshal Beru absorbs the ability of the 'Apostle of the Infinite' and acquires Skill: 'Unwithering Spring'.]
The result was astonishing.
'Unwithering Spring.'
Originally, the purpose of the project that Yuri Orlov had secretly completed was to receive infinite divine power from the Outer God Itarim. However, to receive that immense power, piercing a direct gate to the Outer God existing in a far, distant universe was necessary. And through countless spells and barriers, that project had finally succeeded. And the fact that Beru had 'devoured' a part of that ability ultimately meant—
Ting!
[Marshal Beru connects with 'King of the Dead, Shadow Monarch Sung Jinwoo'.]
[Marshal Beru uses Skill: 'Unwithering Spring'.]
[Marshal Beru recovers all mana.]
Crossing the vast dimensional distance, Sung Jinwoo's immense mana began to flow into Beru.