The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 118

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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Chapter 118. Anomaly vs. Anomalous Person (1)
The Vanished Social Club hardly seemed like a place I needed to escape from.
Pondering this seriously, I returned to the Guest Chamber of the Royal Palace—
Just like before, Seraphia was pacing in front of the door.
Her expression grave, lost in thought.
Then suddenly, she gasped and cried out into the empty air.
“This can’t be!”
“You don’t remember?”
“Eek!!”
Seraphia looked as though her nerves had been completely shattered.
“Uaaaah…!!”
She had even lost the ability to form coherent words.
But the moment she caught sight of me—
“Brother!!”
Her composure snapped back into place, and her speech returned in an instant.
“A-are you alright?! You’re not hurt anywhere, are you?!”
Seraphia repeated the exact same words and actions as before.
It seemed Seraphia’s memories had been erased as well.
Rather than offer lengthy explanations, I immediately activated Mental Empathy.
◆Bond Skill, Mental Empathy [E] activated!
The message materialized before my eyes.
Seraphia’s body trembled slightly—
“Huh? Ah…?”
As if memories were being poured directly into her mind, Seraphia’s expression twisted strangely.
Unlike last time, she didn’t check her dress—
“Aaaah?!?!”
But there seemed to be no problem.
Seraphia clutched her head as confusion washed over her.
“What is this…? What on earth is…?”
Still, Seraphia quickly recalled her memories.
* * *
The Royal Garden, bathed in the soft glow of morning sunlight.
The Tea Reception Hall brimmed with subtle elegance.
The hall came alive with the distinct charm and fragrance each person carried.
“It’s the same this time too. All of those actions and conversations.”
Seraphia answered in a trembling voice.
But then—
“How much longer are you going to hide back there?”
“…Yes? Ah, well…”
Seraphia showed no intention of coming out from behind the wall.
It seems the Gremlin frightened her quite a bit last time.
But how could the Frost Lord, hailed as the Allied Forces’ greatest asset, be cowering before something as trivial as a Gremlin?
“As I mentioned before, fear dissipates when you face its true form directly.”
So spoke Iliana, the hero of the Allied Forces.
-Fear is a product of imagination, after all.
When fear lacks substance, it swells endlessly within the imagination-.
-But once fear takes physical form, imagination becomes suppressed and ‘hollows out’, as it were.
Hollowing out.
To explain what this means-.
-Which frightens you more: a cockroach you can see right before your eyes, or one hiding in the gap between furniture?
That was the gist of it.
In any case.
“So stop hiding and-.”
“Eek!”
…I couldn’t fathom how anyone could call that the Frost Lord.
I swallowed a sigh and turned my gaze away.
Then I carefully observed the nobles in the Tea Reception Hall.
‘Does the same anomaly not repeat itself?’
No anomaly like the first one had occurred.
I’d activated Predator’s Instinct [S], but it wasn’t a Gremlin after all.
It seemed the anomalies manifested randomly.
“The phenomenon appears different. Go check if the nobles’ behavior and conversations differ from last time.”
“…Ah, yes!”
Seraphia answered energetically only upon hearing there was no Gremlin.
Yet she still wasn’t moving.
“What are you doing?”
“Ah, well….”
Seraphia’s lips trembled as if making an excuse.
Watching her like this….
The Frost Lord of my past life.
Seraphia as she is now.
“Could I… go with you, brother? Could we go together…?”
…a dissonance began to form in my perception.
* * *
Unfortunately(?), no anomalies were discovered at the tea reception.
Thus came the Social Club’s second event: the banquet.
The nobles were conversing at their respective tables.
“Have you drawn up the export plan I mentioned yesterday?”
“I’m still deliberating. The Royal Court’s approval is necessary, after all.”
“There are rumors that several families are already preparing similar goods, so you’ll need to act swiftly.”
“Hmm.”
“If you’d prefer, why not leave the negotiations with the Royal Court to me?”
“Oh! You would do that for us?”
“As long as you ensure a fair distribution of profits.”
A conversation far more substantive than what had transpired at the Tea Reception Hall.
Back-and-forth exchanges about mutual interests were flowing between them.
“It’s the same here too…”
Seraphia spoke in a hushed voice.
And with that, she quietly slipped behind the wall to hide.
Leaving Seraphia behind, I carefully surveyed the Banquet Hall.
‘I don’t see anything that looks out of the ordinary.’
I examined my surroundings even more intently.
Especially the nobles gathered in the Banquet Hall.
I had used Predator’s Instinct on all of them.
‘No Gremlin either.’
I moved toward the area where the beverages were stored.
Wine infused with matter from the Dark Dimension.
It remained untouched.
I immediately shattered every bottle of wine.
Crash!!
The atmosphere in the Banquet Hall froze in an instant—
“You reckless bastard!”
One of the nobles suddenly shot to his feet and shouted.
Striding toward me with an intimidating presence, the man’s name was Alex.
He was the third son of the Marquis Segretus Family.
“Do you even know what you just broke?”
“What is it?”
I probed Alex with the same response as before.
Alex, equally as before, grew even more heated and raised his voice.
“It’s the finest wine, blessed by the gods themselves—called Divine!”
As Alex’s voice shook the Banquet Hall, murmurs rippled through the nobles.
“La Briyah Divine!”
“How could you destroy something so precious!”
Reactions erupted from all sides.
It was the same response as last time, as if they were all echoing Alex’s sentiment.
Alex’s pride swelled accordingly.
“I didn’t know.”
“Ha! Is ignorance an excuse? You must take responsibility!”
“To take responsibility—”
I began to speak but paused.
My inventory wouldn’t function anyway—
‘There’s no reason for me to act the same way.’
I ceased my movements and carefully examined the [Rules].
Perhaps my silence made me appear frightened.
“Come to think of it, there’s nothing you can do, is there? Tsk tsk.”
Alex shouted with unbridled arrogance.
“Iliana, I’ve known since you started sponsoring that lowborn wretch just how much of a reckless fool you are.”
…As expected, it seemed Alex was picking a fight with me because of Iliana.
Alex’s mockery continued relentlessly.
In any case.
The Blacksmith, hero of the Allied Forces, had spoken nothing but truth.
-Listen here, Predator! These human nobles act however they please without fear of an axe through their skulls, making them even more chaotic than the primitive fools who wielded stone axes!
I reexamined the [Rules].
Among them, I paid particular attention to [Rule 5].
[Rule 5] – Even if the phenomenon is not an Anomaly, should you eliminate said phenomenon, it will revert to its initial state. Exercise caution in your actions.
I needed to accumulate Sanity points anyway.
It was a moment when continuous resets were necessary.
“Or perhaps as compensation for sponsoring, that lowborn wretch and you—”
Crash!!
Without hesitation, I kicked Alex’s face.
* * *
Crash!!
A thunderous sound echoed suddenly.
Seraphia’s head naturally turned toward the source of the noise.
And what entered Seraphia’s vision.
Some noble was flying through the air?
“Eh…?”
Seraphia’s expression went blank.
Regardless.
He soared for dozens of meters.
Only when he struck the wall of the Banquet Hall did he finally come to a stop.
Boom!!
The wall crumbled, and debris buried the noble’s body.
The rubble entombed him like a stone grave.
“….”
“….”
The Banquet Hall transformed into a funeral chamber as everyone fell into silence.
The nobles’ faces displayed shock and horror, unable to comprehend what had unfolded before their eyes.
The frozen atmosphere of the Banquet Hall.
It was at that very moment.
“Kami…! Kami!”
The nobleman buried beneath the rubble pushed himself upright.
His lips were mangled.
His cheeks swollen grotesquely.
…I couldn’t recognize who he was at all.
“That… that is…?”
“The third son of Marquis Segretus Family…?”
The nobles were equally bewildered.
And at that very moment.
“I was wondering why Iliana looked so destroyed.”
All eyes naturally turned toward one person.
Adrian.
Adrian strode forward with heavy steps toward Alex.
“Living among vermin like you in a rotten cesspool of a family—what else would you expect?”
“You, you bastard—kami!”
“Shut your mouth.”
Boom!!
With a sound like a balloon bursting, Alex’s body shot into the air—
“Eh…?”
Seraphia couldn’t comprehend what was happening at all.
* * *
Boom!!
A deafening crash suddenly echoed.
Luseria, who had been creating the anomalous phenomenon, naturally turned her head toward the source of the sound.
And beyond the crystal sphere.
Alex, the third son of Marquis Segretus Family, was embedded in the ceiling?
“What…?”
Luseria, the Enchantress of Lust, found her expression going slack.
Regardless.
Alex’s body fell from the ceiling.
His blood-soaked form no longer moved.
—Cough, cough…! P-please…!
Alex begged for mercy.
—Didn’t I tell you to shut your mouth?
But Adrian didn’t even flinch.
His left foot raised high.
It came crashing down on Alex’s right shoulder.
Crack!
The sickening sound of bone shattering.
Alex’s mouth gaped open wide.
But no scream escaped.
A silent cry.
After that came indiscriminate beatings.
Crash! Crackle!
Thud!
…It was brutal.
And cruel as well.
“What…?”
I genuinely wondered why he was doing this.
No, seriously, why was he acting like this?
Alex is not an ‘anomaly’.
Therefore, Adrian’s beating was something that had never occurred at previous Banquet Halls.
Perhaps that was why.
-Stop the action!
-The use of force within the Royal Palace is strictly forbidden!
The Vanished Social Club began to spiral beyond control, flowing as it pleased.
“This…?”
Luseria couldn’t understand what was happening or how it was unfolding.
* * *
After pummeling Alex, the Royal Knights surrounded him from all directions like Gremlin.
I had been planning to reset the Social Club anyway.
I could continuously obtain Sanity points.
It seemed worthwhile to create one more new transcendent combination skill.
‘Since 107 points was B-grade.’
◆Transcendent Skill, Rampage [?] is activated.
◆[Sanity] – 682
◆The grade of Rampage [?] is applied as [B+].
◆The skills that can be transcended with this value are Metabolic Acceleration [C+], Reinforced Skin [B], Nutrient Synthesis [B], and Mucus Cells [B-].
The grade corresponding to 682 is [B+].
And upon checking the skills that could be transcended….
‘Skills without complete genetic factors don’t seem to work.’
Despite being lower grades than Rampage [B+], Low-Light Vision [D+] and Assimilation [C+] were not included in the transcendable skills.
‘Let’s see….’
I deliberated on which skill to apply Rampage [B+] to.
For now, I postponed Mucus Cells [B-].
A skill I hadn’t yet created a combination skill for. Consequently, I couldn’t create a transcendent combination skill from it.
Then….
‘Should I try Reinforced Skin first?’
◆The grade of Skill, Reinforced Skin [B] is upgraded to [B+].
◆[Additional Efficiency] – You additionally gain Damage Resistance [+10%].
◆[Additional Effect] – Recover HP equal to [0.1%] of the damage reduced.
Enhanced Skin [B+] transcended its limits, and an additional effect was granted.
Moreover, it surpassed biological constraints, and even the biologically impossible ‘HP Absorption’ effect was added.
As a result, the ‘Combination Skill’ based on Enhanced Skin [B+] was also affected.
◆Combination Skill, ‘Dragon’s Skin [U]’ transcends its limits!!
Most notably, Dragon’s Skin [U] was most heavily affected and transcended its limits.
◆Draconification [E]
: When this skill is activated, the player consumes [500 Kcal] per second to instantly convert all body cells into [Dragon Traits].
Through this, [Keratin Reinforcement Effect] occurs in [muscle cells and bone tissue], increasing [Strength and Stamina] stats by [+30%], and converts [1%] of the damage reduced by Dragon’s Skin [U] into [Energy (Kcal)].
【This skill can be toggled On/Off.】
【This skill is a Super Combination Skill that transcends the limits of Dragon’s Skin [U].】
Truly a Super Combination Skill.
It was just as broken as Accelerated Heartbeat [E].
What was there to hesitate about?
◆I activate the Super Combination Skill, Draconification [E]!
I broke through the Royal Knights’ encirclement head-on.
* * *
What on earth just… happened?
Luseria slowly processed what had just occurred.
Yet no matter how much she mulled it over, there was only one thing she could discern.
With a thunderous crash, all the Royal Knights were completely taken care of.
That was all there was to it.
And so, the landscape of the Banquet Hall visible beyond the crystal sphere.
Never had there been such utter devastation.
-And yet… you’ll still… survive this…?
The fractured voice of a Royal Knight reached her ears.
-Don’t worry. It’ll all be forgotten anyway.
But then Adrian’s voice followed—
“…?????”
Luseria could not maintain her sanity.
“Why?”
How could this be?
He knew it would be forgotten?
The Vanished Social Club uses the ‘Power of Oblivion’ to continuously erase memories.
In other words, one cannot know what abnormality caused the club to reset.
Even if the same abnormality repeats, one returns to the beginning without remembering its cause and effect.
Trapped in an infinite cycle.
But if one remembers that it will be forgotten?
The infinite loop structure of The Vanished Social Club collapses.
“How on earth…?”
But that is impossible.
It lies in a realm of absolute impossibility.
…Wait, hold on.
Knowing that one will be forgotten…?
“You’re resetting yourself despite knowing?”
…Is this madman?
I don’t know how he comprehends the power of oblivion.
But setting that aside, where on The Continent could there exist a lunatic who willingly throws himself into the power of oblivion?
There truly was ‘no one’ like that.
The Presence From Afar (Aucta From Afar).
The sole existence that dwells far beyond understanding and perception.
Even the Presence From Afar would never do such a thing.
Then what in the world…?
-An A-rank should reset after about ten times.
“What kind of reckless bastard-.”
Is there nothing he won’t do?
…Luseria simply could not comprehend it.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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