Chapter 72

When Monarchs died, they fell into eternal repose.

This empty world was a space of nothingness where nothing could exist except the dead Monarch's soul.

Yet even after being dragged into such a world, there were still things Suho could do.

First, his skills.

[Using ‘Skill: Iron Body Arts.’]

WHOOSH!

Black energy enveloped Suho's arms. Querehsha could not possibly fail to recognize that power.

["Impossible! Isn't that the power of the Monarch of the Iron Body?!"]

Querehsha was aghast.

Iron Body Arts.

Suho was wielding the technique of the great teacher Ammut, who had transformed a weak, insignificant goblin into the Monarch of the Iron Body.

And then...

[Using ‘Skill: Spirit Possession.’]

WHOOOOSH!

A spirit wind swirled around Suho's entire body.

[Using ‘Skill: Wind of the Grasslands.’]

WHOOSH!

His hair fluttered silver as an explosive bestial presence burst forth.

["Th-this can't be...! The Monarch of Fangs'...?!"]

Even in this world—no, precisely because it was this world—there was another being who could watch what happened here.

A chill ran through her.

["Who's there?!"]

The gaze she suddenly felt brought a certain Monarch's name to Querehsha's mind.

The King of Beasts, who had stood alongside her against the Shadow Monarch...

[The King of Beasts, the Monarch of Fangs, is watching Querehsha's domain.]

["Rakan! Why are you lending your power to the Shadow Monarch's son?!"]

Querehsha simply could not understand.

Why would Rakan lend power to the flesh and blood of the enemy who had killed him?!

Yet however much she tried to deny it, the facts were undeniable: Rakan's energy dwelled within Suho, and he wielded Iron Body Arts.

Even without being able to summon shadow soldiers in this world, Suho had the strength to face tens of thousands of insects alone.

'Come on.'

Suho drove his black fist into the pure-white tidal wave rushing toward him—into the mass of white insects.

KABOOOM!

A massive explosion erupted at the center of the enormous wave.

The remnants scattered in every direction, then surged back toward his blind spots.

[Querehsha's Thorn Mantis]

[Querehsha's Exploding Bug]

[Querehsha's Venomous Spider]

[Querehsha's Poison Moth]

...

Countless varieties of venomous insects attacked Suho.

But empowered by Rakan's energy, he narrowly dodged them with dazzling movements.

Then another blow.

BOOM!

And another.

KA-BOOM!

Every explosive strike sent hundreds of insects bursting apart.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

Suho's attacks crushed them like a bomber's payload.

Querehsha bit her lip in frustration.

["Grr! You're putting up quite a struggle! But you're still alone! And every time my insects die, they will poison you—!"]

DING.

[Harmful substances detected.]

[The effects of ‘Blessing: Health and Longevity’ are initiating detoxification.]

[3, 2, 1... Detoxification complete.]

Querehsha stared in shock as Suho kept moving, unchanged from the start, as though nothing had happened.

["Why are you unharmed?!"]

Suho gave the bewildered, wide-eyed Querehsha a smile.

[The King of Beasts, the Monarch of Fangs, claps with uproarious laughter, saying insects really are pathetically weak.]

["You bastard!"]

Querehsha roared, furious beyond measure.

This was not what she had envisioned.

The Shadow Monarch's son had entered her domain, and she had intended to torment him to her heart's content, until she felt like stopping.

It had been a perfectly feasible plan. No outside power could be drawn into this World of Repose.

Even the mighty Shadow Monarch's army could not dare set foot here.

This was a tomb meant solely for her!

And yet look at what was happening!

["Grr! There's still plenty of time. You'll eventually collapse from exhaustion!"]

'Time, huh...?'

At that, Suho glanced at the quest window.

[Time Remaining: 3 hours 41 minutes 17 seconds]

Querehsha was right.

The four hours were still a long way from over, and he could not keep fighting at this pace.

'Besides, I can't even take out my weapons here.'

For some reason, his inventory would not open.

'What about the shop window?'

DING.

[Potions and the shop cannot be used at your current location. Leveling up will not restore your condition.]

The system message arrived as though answering his thoughts.

'So I can still level up?'

A faint smile crept onto Suho's lips.

He had wondered how much experience killing a few measly bugs could possibly give him, but numbers on this scale were another matter.

'Then why don't I use this chance to gain some serious levels?'

His eyes gleamed.

Perhaps because these insects were already dead, no kill notification appeared no matter how many he killed.

But each time he killed one, its corpse crumbled into dust and vanished. That meant their numbers would gradually dwindle if he kept fighting.

KA-BOOM!

As he continued fighting, Suho went over the skills he could currently use.

Without weapons, Storm Slash and Dual Swordsmanship were useless, and he could not call on his shadow soldiers for help.

'My available skills are Toughness, Ruler's Authority, Wind of the Grasslands, Giant's Armor, and Iron Body Arts.'

But most of them continuously consumed mana and could only be maintained for a short time.

In a prolonged battle like this, where he needed to conserve both stamina and mana, he had to be a little more strategic.

'At least Spirit Possession works, but I need to save mana. I'd better cancel it for now.'

Ending Spirit Possession would slow him down, preventing him from dodging every attack, but he would have to make up for that with Toughness.

[Deactivating ‘Skill: Spirit Possession.’]

But the instant he canceled Spirit Possession...

["Awoof!"]

'Huh?'

The gray doggy—no, the wolf pup Gray—who had been dwelling inside Suho popped out of his body.

Then he looked around in bewilderment.

SKRITCH! SCREECH!

["Yip?!"]

Startled by the insects lunging at him from all directions without warning, Gray hid behind Suho's legs.

But a peculiar gleam entered Suho's eyes at the sight.

'Well, well.'

Now, what was this?

[Gray Lv.7]

Fang Wolf

Thanks to all the hunting Suho had made him do in the Shadow Dungeon, Gray had gained quite a few levels himself.

'Perfect. Let's use this chance to level you up, too.'

["Awooo."]

As though he understood Suho, Gray hastily shook his head.

'Ha. You little coward, seriously.'

Suho looked incredulous.

But Gray's senior(?) watching from far away also clicked his tongue at the pup's whining.

[The King of Beasts, the Monarch of Fangs, asks you to train his descendant more rigorously.]

'For free?'

With a challenging look, Suho offered Rakan a deal.

Rakan snapped it right up.

[The King of Beasts, the Monarch of Fangs, says he will offer you a piece of advice in return.]

'Advice?'

[The King of Beasts, the Monarch of Fangs, advises you that the strong devour the weak: become the eater rather than the eaten.]

'Eat rather than be eaten? Don't tell me...'

At Rakan's words, Suho turned his gaze toward the disgusting insects attacking without end.

'Eat the bugs?'

[The King of Beasts, the Monarch of Fangs, nods solemnly.]

'...'

Surely a being called the King of Beasts would not offer utter nonsense as advice.

After a brief hesitation, Suho let out a chuckle, his eyes shining.

'At least they're all white. That makes them a little less gross.'

["W-wait!"]

It was Querehsha who was flustered by Suho's response.

["You're not seriously going to listen to that lunatic, are you?"]

Her reaction only made Suho more certain.

With one hand, Suho picked up Gray, who was hiding behind him with his tail tucked between his legs.

'Gray, isn't it about time you grew up?'

["Awoof?!"]

Gray flailed his legs as he was hoisted up.

Without hesitation, Suho hurled him straight into the middle of the insects.

["Yelp!"]

Suho flashed his teeth in a smile as he addressed Gray, whose screams grew distant.

'The strong devour the weak.'

It certainly had a nice ring to it.

'Gray. You should be the eater, not the eaten, too.'

That was a true predator—the majesty of the King of Beasts.

And Suho put those words into practice himself.

CRUNCH!

He stuffed a venomous insect clinging to his body into his mouth and bit into it.

Poison burst forth, filling his mouth like meat juices.

CRUNCH! CRACK!

Suho chewed it all up and swallowed it in one go.

GULP.

DING.

[Harmful substances detected.]

[The effects of ‘Blessing: Health and Longevity’ are initiating detoxification.]

[3, 2, 1... Detoxification complete.]

Suho grinned.

'Not as bad as I expected.'

["Th-that lunatic!"]

Querehsha was horrified.

The sight suddenly reminded Suho of what she had said.

["I am, by nature, both one and a colony."]

If all these insects were part of Querehsha, what would happen if he ate every last one?

'Now I'm curious.'

Suho began mercilessly biting into, chewing up, and swallowing the insects that kept attacking him.

["Stop! Stop eating them!"]

Querehsha screamed in horror every time.

An enormous hand made of insects reached through the air to seize Suho again.

He dodged it and bit into another insect.

'Calm down. There's still plenty of time.'

[Time Remaining: 3 hours 07 minutes 54 seconds]

'Three hours is plenty. For a meal, that is.'

["Grrr!"]

Fortunately, now that his master had demonstrated in person, Gray was eagerly gobbling up insects too.

The way he kept glancing at Suho made it seem as though he was fretting that Suho might steal all his food.

That only spurred Suho on.

'All right! Let's see who can eat more!'

["Grrruff!"]

["Don't make it a competition...!"]

Screaming, Querehsha intensified her attacks.

But however frantic she became, there was no way to stop Suho and Gray.

How long had they been eating, and eating, and eating...?

Rakan's advice paid off.

DING!

[You have acquired ‘Title: Natural Enemy of Insects.’]

'Oh?'

Suho's eyes lit up at the sudden system message.

[Title: Natural Enemy of Insects]

A title bestowed upon a predator of insects. All stats increase by 40% when fighting insect-type monsters.

Somehow, he had ended up with something similar to the Wolf Slayer title.

But he did not even need to read the title's effects.

The moment Suho looked at Querehsha's insects...

[The buff effect of ‘Title: Natural Enemy of Insects’ activates.]

A tremendous pressure swelled.

The endlessly surging insects heaved violently.

They had instinctively realized that Suho was their natural enemy.

'What's wrong?'

Suho suddenly wondered.

'Can even bugs like you feel fear?'

The instant an utterly cruel smile formed on his lips...

SKRIIIIK!

SCREEEECH!

The enormous wave of insects broke apart and scattered, fleeing Suho.

At that moment...

'... Huh?'

A brilliant radiance flared.

Mysterious particles of light showered down over Suho's head.

They were the ashes of the insects he had killed so far.

Or the remnants of their souls.

[You usurp the priesthood of the Queen of Insects, the Monarch of Plagues.]