NOVPUB
Chapter 246
Suho’s authority over shadows was an ability that could even pull wandering souls from the Sea of the Afterlife to the surface.
Normally, a medium for the souls was required—at least the shadows of the bodies they had inhabited in life—but with Suho inside the Sea of the Afterlife, he could bypass some steps. All he needed to do was hook the souls himself and reel them in.
“Arise!” Suho commanded, unleashing his shadow power.
Ripples large and small spread across the inky black surface, which had been wavering still and smooth like a single organic mass.
The source of the ripples lay deep beneath—the countless souls lying dormant in the abyss like lifeless corpses. Their unfocused eyes lit up with awareness, and their long-buried consciousnesses started to return. Distant memories resurfaced within them.
Finally, the souls began to rise together.
The Sea of the Afterlife, however, had no intention of letting them go. The gelatinous black water clung to the souls, attempting to drag them back into its depths. This was the oppressive gravity that ruled the Sea of the Afterlife—the natural order of this realm.
Suho’s shadow power, however, was able to overcome this force.
The calm surface erupted into waves, swelling into a tidal surge. The black sea roiled and churned.
One by one, those who eventually succeeded in rising to the surface stood proudly in front of Suho.
Even then, the seawater lingered on their bodies, trying to drag them back into the abyss. The sticky, dark liquid began to evaporate into black steam, burned away by the sheer determination of the souls.
[The Shadow Extraction was a success.]
[The Shadow Extraction was a success.]
[The Shadow Extraction was a success.]
[...]
System messages, too many to count, flooded Suho’s vision.
He studied his new soldiers, who were a myriad of races from various dimensions. On Earth, such creatures would have been called “magic beasts” or “monsters.” In truth, they were beings whose names were lost to war and history, their souls long forgotten.
Beru screeched in shock. “Kieeek! Incredible! What a catch!”
He seemed overcome with excitement.
“We were never able to add these to the shadow army before! We never even encountered them, so how could we?”
He was right. Neither the former Monarch of Shadows, Ashborn, nor the current one, Jinwoo, could possibly have turned every soul from every dimension spread across the universe into shadow soldiers. Even souls who had no connection to the Shadow Monarchs or the wars they fought ended up here, in the Sea of the Afterlife.
Suho’s lips curved into a deeply satisfied grin as he examined his new soldiers. Some were from familiar races he had encountered in dungeons, while others were completely new. Among them were beings too weak to be frontline fighters, but their unique abilities hinted they might have other potential uses.
“Hmm?”
Suddenly, he frowned. Not all of his extraction attempts had succeeded.
[Attempting Shadow Extraction.]
[Extraction attempt in progress...]
[The Shadow Extraction failed.]
[Extraction attempt in progress...]
[The Shadow Extraction failed.]
[The Shadow Extraction failed.]
[...]
“Ugh.”
He repeatedly tried to extract the remaining souls, but each attempt ended in failure.
[The Shadow Extraction failed.]
There were two reasons for this.
[The failure rate of extraction increases in proportion to the target’s stats and the time elapsed since death.]
First, there was the time that had elapsed since their deaths.
Souls that had come to the Sea of the Afterlife too long ago were a wreck, having been fed upon by the weeds. Even without the weeds’ impact, these souls had been assimilated into the Sea of the Afterlife to such an extent that they could not be brought back even with the shadow ability. They could be forcibly extracted, but they would not be able to function properly as soldiers.
Suho was not frowning because of this condition, however.
“The stats of the target... So you refuse to acknowledge me as your master?”
Several souls remained silent, their defiance evident. Each one radiated an extraordinary presence.
Beru recognized the reason and patted Suho on the shoulder, smiling generously as if the hunter was an innocent child learning a lesson about the world.
“It can’t be helped,” Beru said. “You are not the true Monarch of Shadows. If your father was here, they would have risen at a snap of his fingers, but your authority over shadows is apparently too weak to convince them just yet.”
He patted Suho’s shoulder again.
“Look on the bright side, Young Monarch. Isn’t this motivating? Look at them, these impudent souls! If you level up and come back later, they will welcome you with open arms, wishing to be part of your army.”
Is this encouragement or mockery?
Suho, who would have usually been annoyed, glared gravely at the souls.
Indeed, the Sea of the Afterlife was vast and deep. There were plenty of powerful souls who lay dormant and were still too strong for him to awaken. If he wasn’t qualified to be their master just yet, he could simply become stronger and come back later.
“Fine. I’ll be back for you all,” Suho promised.
He vowed once again to level up as quickly as possible, then return to claim these valuable souls before they were devoured by the weeds.
However, a more immediate problem loomed—his health was still plummeting.
[HP -514]
[HP -763]
[HP -989]
[HP -1,314]
[...]
“Young Monarch, to stay any longer would be dangerous,” Beru warned.
“All right... Let’s head on up.”
Suho rose back to the surface, and the speed at which his health drained began to slow. Now that he was outside the water, however, he could see that the rate did not return to normal right away.
[HP -931]
[HP -819]
[...]
[HP -434]
[...]
[HP -100]
[HP -100]
[...]
Only after the sticky black water finally peeled away from his body did his health loss stabilize to its prior rate.
Suho immediately produced a potion and downed it.
“It could’ve been a disaster if I didn’t make it out sooner,” he noted.
“Young Monarch, you should leave for now and recover for a bit before you return,” Beru advised. “In your current condition, things might be dangerous even if we find the World Tree.”
“You’re right. But first...” Suho looked back at his newly recruited soldiers. “Do any of you know the location of the World Tree, by any chance?”
Naturally, there was no response. The soldiers had been unconscious from the moment they arrived here.
Disappointed, Suho separated the winged soldiers from the others.
“I’m stepping out for now. Search for the World Tree while I’m gone,” he commanded them. “If you see any weeds...”
“We will annihilate them,” said Sita, flying among the shadow dragonkin with eyes gleaming with resolve. “We can’t allow these precious souls to be devoured by weeds.”
“Good. Then spread out.”
As soon as Suho finished speaking, the winged soldiers took off, soaring into the dark skies.
Watching them for a moment, he had an idea.
“Yes... The more, the better.”
There was one type of race perfectly qualified for the Sea of the Afterlife—the demons.
[Skill: “Shadow Exchange” has activated.]
With that, Suho vanished from view.
***
At the same time, Esil’s territory was alive with deafening shouts.
“It’s over!”
“We withstood the trial!”
“We defeated them!”
The demons were quite a miserable sight, having only barely defended their territory against the Residents of the Rift. Many had lost limbs, while others were half-dead, black blood flowing freely from countless wounds.
They were battered and broken, a collective wreck—but despite that fact, the air was charged with celebration. They had just proved themselves worthy as demons.
“Oh, demons!” came a ringing voice.
They turned. It was Esil, the eldest daughter of the Radiru family—or rather, their new king.
She stood tall despite the exhaustion threatening to overwhelm her, and she felt the fervent, almost desperate gazes of her subjects locked onto her. She faced them all proudly and smiled, revealing her sharp fangs.
“Yes... We won.”
The demon realm erupted in a unified roar, their cries filling the air with triumph.
When the invasion began and the Residents of the Rift had arrived, the ignorant demons had instinctively realized that unless they defeated this trial, the other creatures would take their place. Their fear had been absolute, a feeling that told them they might never be able to live as demons again. Now they could declare it with pride.
“We are the true demons,” Esil proclaimed.
Her words brought another wave of cheers from the crowd. In that moment, every demon present acknowledged Esil Radiru, the pure-blooded noble, as their ruler.
Yet their celebration was short-lived. Suddenly, the sky began to fall apart above their heads.
Thunder rumbled, and bolts of lightning tore through the heavens, disrupting the calm they thought they had earned.
“Wh-what?!”
“Don’t tell me it’s a second wave?”
“We can’t do this any longer...”
Despair spread like wildfire as the demons instinctively turned their pleading eyes to Esil.
She stood firm, her sharp gaze fixed on the ominous sky. “Don’t worry. The trial is over.”
Her reassurance eased the demons’ fears, but her expression remained tense as she watched the darkening heavens. Her unease rippled through the demons, who began to whisper among themselves, trembling.
“If this is not another trial...”
“Then what in the world is happening?”
Moments later, Esil’s eyes widened as she stared into the sky.
“Here he comes!”
A streak of black lightning suddenly struck the earth.
The terrifying display made the demons recoil in fear. Only Esil, her face now alight with recognition, dashed forward eagerly.
“Suho!”
It wasn’t dark lightning after all. Suho stood at the center of the dark shadows of his army that had traveled across dimensions. Using the soldiers he had stationed in the demon realm, he had returned.
“Esil.”
He greeted her as he spotted her among the crowd of shadowy figures rippling with energy.
Suho pulled two items from his inventory. With one hand, he uncorked a healing potion and drank it. With his other, he grasped something he had acquired not long ago.
[Item: Baran’s Horn]
This was all he had left after defeating Baran’s soul. Even the system hadn’t been able to explain its purpose, but Suho’s instincts told him exactly what it was for.
He handed the item to Esil and said, “From now on, you are the King of Demons.”
Esil accepted the horn, and the moment it entered her hands, a surge of black energy enveloped her entire body.
