Title: Solo Leveling Vol. 13
Author: Dubu (Redice Studio), Chugong (Original Story)
Publisher: Ize Press
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 296
Genre: Fantasy, Action
Publication Date: August 19, 2025
The Story
Our penultimate volume is comprised mainly of one thing: Jinwoo vs Antares, aka The Shadow Monarch vs The Dragon King.
We start off with Jinwoo dividing his forces around the world, believing that the Dragon King’s army will pour out of every portal; however, that was not the case. Antares waited until Jinwoo was in position, then brought his forces into the world through the portal furthest from him! And so, the destruction of the world has begun, but Jinwoo wasn’t about to take that lying down.
He made his way to Antares’ position, and so the battle between them began! I won’t go into too many details because there are quite a number of twists and turns throughout the battle, especially with the way the battle ended. I will say, though, that the ending leads us into an epilogue of sorts, one that will be expanded upon and wrapped up in the 14th and final volume of the series.
Characters
Now that we know that Jinwoo has fully assumed Ashborn’s powers (the previous Shadow Monarch), there isn’t much left to tell with him. Even with Antares, there isn’t much to say. He did talk about the battle between the monarchs and the rulers, but it’s nothing we hadn’t heard before.
I will say that during the course of the battle, Jinwoo makes a shocking decision, which is one of the twists I mentioned. This decision is something that speaks deeply to his character. What that decision is, well, it’s a massive spoiler, so I can’t just go around saying it, but it is something that needs to be read and experienced.
Final Thoughts
As we get into the deepest depths of this series, it’s getting harder to talk about because there are so many major moments happening. As a reader, it’s great because you can experience an epic tale coming to its conclusion in the grandest way possible, but as a review, it makes trying to review these last few volumes without spoilers really challenging. Thus, you end up with a review like this… where barely anything is said because the majority of this book… like about 90% of it… is the battle between Jinwoo and Antares. There are even multiple sections that are 5-10+ pages or more of just action, no dialogue whatsoever. How do you cover that without saying “and so they fought?”
All I can say is that, if you’ve been a Solo Leveling fan, then you know how epic these last few volumes have been, so you should expect to feel that same level of excitement here in this second-to-last volume, but I still think the 12th volume was the best in the series. Now that it has passed, I can say that learning about Ashborn, the previous shadow monarch, how and why he chose Jinwoo as his vessel, and watching Jinwoo absorb his power was incredible. It was such an amazing lore moment, but this volume doesn’t have any of that. It’s the culmination of everything that the previous volume explained to us. It armed us with the answers to all of the questions that we’ve had, and with that knowledge, plunged us into the final battle that will decide everything.
In a way, volume 12 served as our training to prepare us for this moment. This volume tells us that there is no more knowledge to be had. All that needs to happen is what must be done… the destruction of Antares to save the world. But regardless of the outcome of the battle, it’s still not over yet. There is still more to come, and what will come may be a somber moment, or it may be one of the most profound moments in the series.
We will have to wait until next time to see how it all wraps up, but I will say that this has been a wild ride from beginning to end. It’s far from perfect, and I do have some gripes, but I’ll cover those in my final review when volume 14 drops. Until then, this volume should satisfy your action sweet tooth, but leave you wondering what the future holds for the world that is Solo Leveling.
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