Solo Leveling: Ragnarok

Chapter 75

Minsung had narrowly escaped Arsha, but ever since then, her Contaminated Lancers hunted him relentlessly. They were undoubtedly weaker than him, but it was utterly impossible to kill them. Every time he tried, a powerful message echoed loudly inside his mind, causing him to suffer from immense headaches.

“Pledge allegiance to the Queen!”

“Argh! Shut up!”

At the time, Minsung was on the verge of breaking down. Even the slightest lapse in concentration would make him want to return to Arsha immediately and kneel before her, pledging his loyalty.

“Pledge allegiance to the Queen!”

“Stop! I beg you, get out of my head!”

Minsung tried to get rid of the voice, but covering his ears and banging his head against the floor couldn’t stop it.

It soon dawned on him that it was never a voice. It was an instinct worker bees possessed for the queen bee. For Minsung, who was used to dominating others, it was a profoundly humiliating sensation.

“Pledge allegiance to the—”

“I refuse! I am not a worker bee!” Gritting his teeth, he forcibly suppressed his instincts.

He finally found a place where he could hide from Arsha’s lancers— his former office at the Fiend Guild headquarters.

“This is where I truly belong. Not some beehive.” He opened his wine fridge to open a bottle when he realized the cause of his misfortune. “It’s all because of this!” freeweb . com

The premium wine that was always given to him at Queen Bee, the Royal Jelly, was Arsha’s secret venom.

“Drinking this every day has made me like this!” Minsung raised the wine bottle to throw it but hesitated for a moment. Seeing the venom of the queen bee, an idea suddenly crossed his mind—a way to suppress the instincts of a worker bee. “I might be able to create my own legion.”

Minsung poured his mana into the bottle, imbueing the properties of Arsha’s royal jelly with his own. “Great! Once they’re addicted to this poison, they’ll become soldiers loyal to me, not the queen bee.”

Minsung absorbed the newly crafted royal jelly into his venomous stinger. He immediately left the building and ambushed lower-ranked hunters to inject them with his royal jelly. However, they dropped dead on the spot.

“Weak fools. They can’t even withstand this level of poison.” Minsung clicked his tongue and sought out stronger hunters.

But the results were the same. They all vomited blood and succumbed to the poison.

“Why do they keep dying?”

He wondered if there was something wrong with his concoction. He decided to continue attacking the hunters until he could determine the cause.

Finally, a successful case emerged. The target was a hunter from the Fiend Guild.

Is this just a coincidence? Initially, he thought it was merely chance.

However, after numerous experiments, he realized that only hunters from the Fiend Guild could withstand his venom without succumbing. Eventually, Minsung understood the reason.

“Was it because they were following me from the beginning?”

Originally, Arsha’s royal jelly was a poison that created worker bees, and thus, their loyalty was her’s alone.

“But I am not a queen.”

In the world of bees, he was just an ordinary worker bee, so there was no way the others would pledge allegiance to him. But it seemed that the members of the Fiend Guild could somehow be influenced, and he attributed his success to the fact that they were his subordinates before his transformation. In their minds, he was still their vice guild master. The reason for this loyalty arose from superficial ties between salary and position, but among hunters, hierarchy was everything.

Understanding this principle, Minsung burst into a bitter laugh. “So that means only Fiend Guild members can successfully consume my royal jelly? How amusing.”

As his legion grew, he noticed that his minions were markedly different from Arsha’s lancers, They looked more like ghouls than armored knights.

Minsung wondered if he could seize everything from Taegyu, the man he despised. To him, the position of guild master never suited someone like Taegyu from the start.

“Taegyu was better as my chauffeur. I will poison him and make him my slave.”

He wasn’t sure if his poison could affect an S-rank hunter, but if successful, he knew he would become unstoppable. Since Taegyu had once obediently followed his orders as a chauffeur, he knew that there was a chance it could work. Minsung’s mood improved at the thought of making Taegyu his slave.

In truth, being reborn as a worker bee wasn’t all bad. Aside from the instinct to pledge allegiance to the queen bee, there were actually many advantages. Arsha had compressed Minsung’s human essence and transformed him into a highly evolved beast made for combat. While it was regrettable that his hunter skills had disappeared, his new superpowered body turned out to be more of an advantage.

He even wondered if he could beat Taegyu with his improved build. “He might be an S-rank, but Taegyu is nothing more than an archer. If I were to poison him first and render him unable to wield his weapon, victory would be within reach...”

The culmination of all plans had led him to this moment—an exhausted Taegyu stood before him, ready for the taking.

I can win at this rate! Minsung was confident. The thought of crushing Taegyu with his own hands and then spitting on his trampled face delighted him.

To reset the imbalance created by the Great Cataclysm, he planned to turn him into his slave for the rest of his life.

But who is the hunter next to him? Minsung looked at Suho and felt an ominous sensation. He has the aura of a queen bee. But he can’t be... I’d be feeling a sense of allegiance if he was... Is this... It was pure fear—the fear of facing a natural enemy surged within him. Why do I feel this way? He doesn’t even look that strong.

His transformation significantly improved his senses, which enabled him to gauge an opponent’s level with great accuracy.

Suho’s mana levels meant he was undoubtedly a C-rank hunter—a B-rank at best. The threatening presence belonged to the A-rank hunter, Miho standing beside him.

But why does make me want to escape? It’s like he’s my natural predator. This unsettling feeling affected Minsung’s pride. “He’s an annoying one.” To shake off his unease, he decided to reveal his true power, and tremendous energy surged from him.

On the other hand, Suho had the opposite mindset. He’s clearly stronger than me, but I don’t feel like I’m going to lose. He promptly opened the store window.

[Item: “Arrows (100)” has been purchased.]

[Item: “Arrows (100)” has been purchased.]

Instantly, two sturdy quivers filled with arrows appeared in Suho’s hands. “Well, if you can’t use mana arrows, use these instead.”

Having received arrows that had appeared out of thin air, Taegyu looked at Suho with astonishment. “Where did these come from?”

“I’m a summoner.” Suho gave a quick excuse and shrugged his shoulders. “They’re not free, so I’ll bill you later. But use them generously. I’ll give you more once you run out.”

“Th-thanks! I appreciate it!” Taegyu nodded brightly. He decided to push aside his question for Suho for later, and he turned his head toward the enemies with a wicked smile.

Fiend’s Bow was an S-grade weapon capable of slaying magic beasts with ordinary arrows.

Taegyu’s arrows pierced through the heads and hearts of ghouls that swarmed from all directions.

“Leave the beasts to me. You two, focus on capturing Minsung!”

As much as he wanted to personally bring down the villain, he knew it would be impossible without mana. He didn’t want to delay others by worrying about his desires.

“Let’s go!”

“Got it!”

Suho and Miho charged toward Minsung, and at that moment, the wings of the Shadow Lancers emerged behind them. They soared toward the villain at an incredible speed to unleash a relentless assault. However, Minsung mockingly evaded their attacks with ease.

“Too slow.”

How can he move so fast?! Miho urgently warned Suho, “Be careful! His speed is much faster than an A-rank hunter!”

Minsung seemed pleased to hear her assessment, lifting the corners of his mouth.

“That’s right! I’ve already transcended my human abilities. Your sluggish attacks can’t even brush my body!”

“Oh, really?” Suho said.

Minsung’s demeanor quickly crumpled. No matter how hard he tried to ignore it, Suho’s presence continued to aggravate him. “This won’t do. I’ll kill you first!” With fierce determination, Minsung surged toward Suho, his sharp spear aimed at his heart.

I’ve been waiting for this moment. Suho’s eyes flashed as he shouted, “Come out!” Suddenly, rays of dark light shot out from Suho’s body, simultaneously rushing toward Minsung.

“What is this?” Minsung’s eyes widened, bewilderment washing over him.

The rays of dark light were only visible to the eyes of a worker bee, and the beams of darkness before him were, in fact, lancers.

“This doesn’t make any sense.” Minsung hastily changed direction just before attacking Suho. My speed is far superior to theirs. I can easily escape, even if they get close!

But Suho firmly grasped the tip of Minsung’s spear as it retracted away from him, “Now I’ve got you, you scoundrel.”

“Let go!” Startled to the core, Minsung tried to repel Suho with all his might. But it was already too late.

“Kill him.”

Suho’s Shadow Lancers began ruthlessly mutilating his body from every angle.