Chapter 348

In the meantime, the Apostle of Domination—trapped within the nest of Void Insects—wore a twisted scowl across his face.

“How... How is such a thing possible...?”

His collective intelligence vividly absorbed the deaths of his many scattered incarnations around the world. New York, Shanghai, Tokyo—his duplicates were being wiped out one by one across the planet, their voices in their last moments flowing into the mind of the main body.

“Argh! Thomas Andre! How is he...?”

“Cha Haein! Her electricity is frying all of us!”

“Sung Ilhwan! What is a human with the power of a high priest doing here?”

“Liu Zhigang’s sword energy...!”

“Even the civilians have become hunters!”

Flashes of light, deafening crashes, and thunderous rumbling filled the air. Those voices carried not just terror but awe, each one swallowed by the sound of brutal combat as they met their end. Yet, in the midst of it all, the Apostle himself could do nothing. All he could do was watch their last moments from this place. He let out a bitter sigh.

“How could this be... Our plan was perfect...”

“There are always aspects which cannot be predicted,” Arsha said, hovering serenely in the air before him, her form framed by the chains of magic binding his limbs. “Your mistake was underestimating humanity’s potential as a species.”

“How... How can humans become so strong?”

“Through pain and adversity, they grow. That is the very nature of life.”

“I never imagined... The Tower of Tribulation could actually transform those without even a trace of mana affinity into hunters...”

The Apostle of Domination simply could not believe the current outcome. His strategy had been perfect. Battle and war were not the same. Even if Suho was impossibly strong as a single person, and even if his companions had become the Monarchs of the next generation, he could lose the battle, but win the war. After all, there were plenty of weaknesses to exploit. Too many to count, in fact. Humanity itself was their Achilles’ heel. However, now even the ordinary humans had awakened and were stepping up to fight.

The Apostle of Domination’s plan had failed in every possible aspect.

“You...!”

Clenching his teeth in frustration and rage, the main body of the Apostle of Domination cursed Suho as soon as he appeared.

“Wait and see! It is only a matter of time! One day, my great god will descend upon this world! And when that time comes, no matter how hard you struggle, it will all be in vain!”

Suho said nothing at first as the Apostle cursed him. He simply looked at him with calm eyes, then slowly placed a hand on the Apostle’s head.

“You’re cursing me, but I will do the opposite. I’ll bless you,” Suho said.

“What...?”

“It’s the blessing of the dead World Tree.”

The Apostle was silent, and his fierce glare flickered with unease.

“For the longest time, the World Tree purified dead souls and bore fruit. The fruits birthed new souls, creating a cycle. But the greatest fruits produced the soldiers of the Rulers. Of course, the tree is now dead, so it can’t serve its proper function anymore.”

As Suho spoke softly, a white light began to seep from his hand into the Apostle of Domination.

“But I can do it.”

With a brilliant flash of light, darkness engulfed the Apostle’s vision. His eyes turned white. He gritted his teeth and shouted into the air, his eyes wide open.

“I don’t know what you are doing, but it will not work! I am the Apostle of Domination! My power flows from a great god! You cannot transform someone like me into a mere shadow soldier!”

“My father told me otherwise,” Suho said.

“Not even your father can turn every Apostle into one of his soldiers! Especially not one like me, whose soul is split!”

Indeed, the creations of the Itarim were diverse. Many among them had strange souls, as the Apostle claimed—souls that couldn’t be drawn out. The Apostle of Domination was one such being.

“Instead of a shadow soldier, how about something like this?”

Suho’s lips were raised in a playful grin. What happened next, however, was far from a joke.

The Apostle was forced to behold the pale shadow towering above him. He craned his head back and looked up. His soul trembled in genuine shock. This was no ordinary shadow. It was the World Tree’s Shadow, so vast its top could not be seen, and it was gazing down at him from above. When the Apostle blinked and looked again, the shadow became Suho. Staring up at that unreachable height, the Apostle let out a pitiful groan.

“Y-you... you... How can this be?”

Suho looked down at him and spoke in a steady voice. “You are not even worthy of becoming a shadow soldier. But what I will do is draw out all the nutrition I can from you.”

[Skill: “World Tree’s Fruit” has activated.]

In that moment, the Apostle of Domination’s soul was forcibly ripped from his body by the Pale Shadow. What followed was a process of purification, compression, crystallization, and extraction.

Ding!

[Rune Stone: “Apostle of Domination” successfully extracted.]

Suho now understood exactly how the Rulers had once created the rune stones they required. There had been so many of them out there. The answer was the fruits of the World Tree. Just as the soldiers of the Rulers had been born, it was the role of the World Tree to extract the properties of dead souls and rebirth them as tools. Now that he had grasped that principle, Suho could mimic the process himself.

“Arsha.” He handed the extracted rune stone to her. “You eat it. I don’t need this power.”

As if entranced, Arsha opened her mouth and accepted the gift. Her expression was one of pure rapture. She swallowed. In the next instant, Arsha’s body cracked violently, as if it might shatter. Blinding light poured out from every split in her skin. She had become like a bomb moments from detonation. The rune stone had caused every ability of the Apostle of Domination to awaken inside Arsha all at once.

The pain was too much. Arsha tried to scream in agony, but Suho pressed a hand firmly over her mouth.

“Don’t spit it out. Swallow it all. This trial was meant for you,” he said with quiet force.

At the same time, he extended his other hand outward. At the end of that gesture stood Nidhogg, still frozen solid by Sirka’s power.

“If you can withstand this, I will bring you your primordial darkness myself,” he said.

Cracking sounds echoed.

Ruler’s Authority.

In that instant, Sirka’s hardened ice shattered—and Nidhogg’s final remaining head was forcibly drawn toward Suho’s outstretched palm. Even as it was dragged, it bared its teeth at Suho and roared in fury. Still, of all its heads, there was only one left now, and Suho had grown far beyond the power he once wielded. Nidhogg was no longer even a threat. The gap between them was clear.

The creature roared.

Using Ruler’s Authority, Suho closed his hand, and a massive, invisible force clenched down on Nidhogg’s head like a giant palm. With a boom, Nidhogg exploded, and with it, a torrent of pitch-black darkness burst out like fireworks.

A notification appeared.

[Nidhogg has been defeated.]

It had been far too easy. More notifications began appearing in rapid succession, as if Suho had just killed an ordinary magical beast. The constant chiming rang in the air.

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

[...]

It was a staggering number of levels, fueled by the sheer volume of experience points earned. When Suho had previously fought Nidhogg’s heads one by one, he hadn’t gained a single point of experience. Now, however, he’d slain the entire creature as a whole. Still, to the current Suho, levels no longer held much meaning. What mattered more were his accomplishments. The mere fact that he had killed Nidhogg with his own hands was far more important. That was a record that would prove his worth, one that would convert directly into promotion points.

[Calculating promotion points...]

[Calculating promotion points...]

As expected, the system had been calculating these accomplishments in full view for some time now.

[“World Tree’s Fruit” successfully extracted.]

[Additional points awarded.]

[“Nidhogg, the Serpent that Feeds on the Roots of the World Tree,” has been defeated.]

[Additional points awarded.]

But it wasn’t over yet.

[Calculating promotion points...]

The final bit of primordial darkness that burst from Nidhogg was sucked into Suho’s hand. He compressed it and forced his fist shut. The unclaimed darkness writhed, resisting his grasp, seeking escape.

“Just wait. You’ll have a master soon,” he murmured, and tightened his grip further.

At that very moment, some welcome news arrived.

Arsha, who had been fiercely struggling to absorb the power she had ingested, finally exhaled a deep, ragged breath. She had fully absorbed the rune stone that had once been the Apostle of Domination. The results were nothing short of astounding. The Apostle of Domination, the king of butterflies, born from a chrysalis, and the queen of Void Insects, who had evolved from a queen bee, had much in common.

Perhaps it was due to their mutual insect nature, but Arsha had succeeded in wholly claiming the powers of the Apostle as her own. Suho saw this immediately and smiled.

“Good work. But this is only the beginning. Brace yourself again,” he said.

“W-wait... Hrrk!”

Without giving her a moment’s rest, he fed her the primordial darkness in his hand next. Fortunately, her vessel was already complete. There was no more pain. The darkness settled smoothly into her body. When she opened her eyes again, they glowed brilliantly, filled with the essence of the primordial darkness.

Ding!

[The Queen of Insects and the Monarch of the Void is born.]

A new Monarch of the insects had finally arrived. This, too, counted as credit.

[Additional points awarded.]

[Your promotion point total has exceeded the achievement maximum.]

[In accordance with the contract, a special reward is offered.]

Suho’s job was finally determined.

[Your job has been selected.]

The Pale Shadow that extended from his feet smiled and spoke, exactly the way the system did.

[Analysis of player actions complete. Assigning suitable job.]

[Wherever the player goes, the breath of death follows. His path will be littered with bodies, and the smell of blood will follow in his wake.]

[Your desire for more power is strong enough to call forth the spirits wandering the valley of death, and the army of death at your disposal will forge a path for you without any outside help.]

[As the player strongly desires great power, he does not rely on his companions and uses only his own...]

A sudden burst of static interrupted the message.

“Hmm?”

Suddenly, the system’s preset messages became distorted. The text glitched and broke apart. Then, piece by piece, the broken characters began to rearrange—reforming into an entirely new message meant for Suho alone.

Unlike Jinwoo, who had always fought alone, Suho had chosen to fight alongside his companions. To support his father, who battled overwhelming foes, Suho had gone to every possible length. Sometimes that had meant brute strength and resolve. Other times, it had been the Tower of Tribulation, a VR game, or awakening the entire human race. The messages reflected this.

[Your creativity always finds a positive solution in times of crisis.]

[Your steadfast heart inspires those around you, guiding all toward the right outcome.]

[The player will be offered a choice between three jobs.]

Three, huh...

Suho calmly inspected the options.

[The first of these choices is the “Soul Striker.”]

[Based on past data, the player is offered the hidden class “Soul Striker.”]

This past data was the dream he had in high school. Back then, he’d already advanced to the next step of the fighter class, the Soul Striker.

[The second job is the “Monarch of Destruction.”]

Ragna appeared beside Suho as if on cue, a solemn look in his eyes. Antares, the King of Dragons, watched closely as Suho approached his decision.

[You have overcome the Trials of the King of Dragons and proven yourself worthy. As a result, the player is offered the power of the “King of Dragons and the Monarch of Destruction.”]

The burning eyes of Antares did not sway Suho.

“And the last one?” he asked.

He already knew what he was choosing—the third option. The previous two already belonged to Suho. He had already earned those powers through his own strength. There was no need to choose them again. There was a reason he had delayed his job change to the end, killed Nidhogg, destroyed the Apostle of Domination, and turned all his companions into new Monarchs. At last, the reward for scraping together every last promotion point before the job change had arrived before him.

[The third job is...]

Suho selected it without a moment’s hesitation.

A brilliant light flared.

[The player has become the “Monarch of Transcendence.”]

Thus, the primordial darkness Suho had inherited from Antares was reborn beneath a new name—the Monarch of Transcendence. Suho did not become a king, however. He was human, after all. He could not be crowned King of Dragons, nor would he choose to rule over humanity. There was a title far more fitting.

Another flash of light descended.

[“The Protector of the World Tree and the Monarch of Transcendence” is born.]

As someone who had conquered the Sea of the Afterlife, found the dying World Tree within that vast expanse, and earned through his own merit the right to stand proudly before the World Tree’s Shadow, Suho now had his new name.

“The Protector of the World Tree...” Antares mulled over the name, an odd look on his face.

Surely, this could not be a coincidence. He refused to believe it.

“

Suho

can also mean protection... Was this the reason he named his son Suho?”

The thought left him strangely unsettled. As all the other Monarchs had done in this generation, every effort had been to acquire a name of their own. However, Suho had been born already carrying a name bestowed by the Greatest Fragment of Brilliant Light and the Monarch of Shadows himself. It had been a name selected with care by that great being, and spoken countless times with love.

“Sung Suho.”

星守護

If translated directly, it meant something like “celestial protector.” That child was now all grown up. Through the many accomplishments he had achieved in the process of his growth, he had earned his new name.

[The Protector of the World Tree and the Monarch of Transcendence]

How far ahead could you see, Jinwoo?

Antares laughed in disbelief. For a good while, he stared blankly at Suho and thought about Jinwoo, who, even now, was likely locked in battle against the Itarim in the outer universes. Antares let out a quiet chuckle, wondering if Jinwoo had any idea of the sheer effort his son had poured into living up to his name and protecting his planet.

The weight of a name was the power granted to a Monarch who had succeeded the primordial darkness, and with it came a solemn duty.

And so, Suho’s long, drawn-out job change quest finally came to an end.