The Solo Leveling anime is now adapting one of the most awaited arcs, the Jeju Island Arc. So far, 100 chapters from the manhwa have been covered in the anime, and the latest episode showed the S-Rank Hunters vs Ant King fight.
A total of 16 S-Rank Hunters joined the Jeju Island Raid, 10 from Japan and 6 from Korea. The plan was, that Japanese Hunters would lure the ants out, while Korean Hunters would sneak into the lair and kill the Queen.
Since ants cannot reproduce without Queen and have only a one-year lifespan, this would eventually wipe them out completely.
But they did not expect one major problem, the Ant King, a monster even stronger than most S-Rank Hunters.
Ant King Arrives Too Late But Plans His Revenge
As the Japanese Hunters fought the ants outside, Ant King joined the fight and instantly started wiping them out.
Meanwhile, inside the lair, the Korean Hunters had already killed the Queen before Ant King could get there.
Just before her death, she let out a dying scream, which made Ant King rush to the lair, but by the time he arrived, it was too late.
His overwhelming presence made it impossible for the Hunters to even move properly. Instead of fighting them immediately, he went straight to the Queen’s corpse, ate her brain, and found out who killed her, Cha Hae-In.
Ant King then attacked Cha Hae-In first, sending her flying into a pillar, leaving her badly injured.
Why Didn’t Ant King Kill Them Instantly?
Outside, he instantly killed the Japanese Hunters, but inside the lair, he did not kill the Korean Hunters right away. Many fans thought this was plot armor, but Solo Leveling’s author Chu Gong recently explained why:
If I had to describe Beru’s behavior in one phrase, it would be: ‘Tearing off dragonfly wings.’ Because of the sin they committed (killing the Queen), he planned to torment them thoroughly before killing them. He didn’t grant them a merciful death. If Sung Jinwoo hadn’t been there, he likely would have tortured the Korean Hunters extensively and then moved on to Korea to exterminate all Koreans. For the record, he ate Min Byung-Gyu’s head not because Min Byung-Gyu’s healing was annoying or because he wanted the healer’s skills, but to communicate with and gain information from the race that killed the Queen (Koreans), in order to annihilate that race.
So it was not plot armor, Ant King just wanted to torture the Hunters first before killing them.
In the latest episode, we only saw Jinwoo’s Exchange ability and his shadows protecting the injured Hunters from the Ant Army.
But the real fight is coming. Solo Leveling Episode 24 will finally show Jinwoo vs Ant King as he arrives to save the Korean Hunters.
Source: DC Inside Thread By Chu Gong.
