The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 130

—————

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

—————

Chapter 130. The Pursuit (2)
Berserk overlapped and applied like Memoria’s.
However, I didn’t manifest wings like Memoria did.
Even if I created wings, my control would be clumsy, and manifesting the Bone Blade alone consumed an enormous amount of calories.
If I manifested wings as well, there wouldn’t be enough calories left to sustain the draconic transformation alongside the energy needed to heal my wounds.
The surroundings were already filled with ashen mist.
And with a deafening boom!
The mist that consumed space crushed down upon my entire body.
Tremendous pressure bore down on my joints.
The force was so intense that my body could have shattered into pieces without surprise.
But it was fine.
◆Activating Evolution Skill, Slime Fluid [U]!
◆Slime Fluid [U]
: Upon activation, the player consumes [10 Kcal/sec] to form [Slime Fluid] with maximized effects of slime cells [B-], spreading it throughout the body to transition into a [Fluid State].
In the [Fluid State], the player’s [joint mobility and pressure resistance] are [maximized], the fluid’s [low friction] grants [Evasion Rate +25%], and the fluid distributed throughout the body promotes [internal energy circulation], improving [Combat Recovery Speed +20%].
【This skill can be toggled [On/Off].】
【This is an evolution skill derived from slime cells [B-].】
I let the pressure and impact flow through me.
I swung the Bone Blade. The mist was cleaved.
The effect of the single-molecule blade [S] followed.
The mist’s binding structure severed.
With a sharp crackling sound!
The mist lost its force. Blake finally became visible. His eyebrows twisted for a brief moment.
I closed the distance.
“Why?”
And I asked.
“Wasn’t she still your mother?”
“You mean Marceline?”
With a roaring blast!
Mist swirled violently around Blake once more.
“Defective parts are naturally replaced, aren’t they?”
The swirling mist burst forth all at once.
A torrent of mist bombarding the front. Evade it? The distance was too close.
Then.
◆Rigid Body Transformation [U]
: Upon acquiring this skill, the player’s skin and body tissues transform into [rigid matter]. This [maximizes] the player’s [thermoregulation ability], and in addition to the effects of reinforced skin [B], reduces [all damage] concentrated on a [single area] by up to [70%].
Furthermore, by utilizing the [recoil] of impacts dealt [directly] to the player, a certain percentage of damage is [reflected].
【This skill is permanently applied upon acquisition as a passive skill.】
【This is an evolution skill derived from reinforced skin [B].】
When force is applied to an object, the object applies an equal force in the opposite direction—or so the principle goes.
“Striking a rock is the same as the rock striking me in return.”
I endure the impact I receive.
Boom!!
Simultaneously, I return an impact equal to what I’ve taken.
Crash!!
And the effect of Dragon Humanization [E].
◆344 Kcal has been accumulated.
I convert 1% of the reduced impact into calories.
In other words, 34,400 damage.
My current health amplified by Dragon Humanization [E] was 11,990.
Without the damage reduction effects of Rigid Transformation [U] and Dragon Humanization [E], it would have been instant death.
Beyond the scattering mist.
Blake extended his hand.
I regenerated my twisted arms and hurled myself forward.
“A defective component?”
“Our Kingdom has far too many unnecessary humans.”
The mist extending from Blake’s fingertips transformed into blades.
“Those who wield sympathy and empathy as weapons, regard compassion and aid as their rightful due, yet refuse to do anything themselves—”
Blake’s sweeping gesture.
A tempest of slashing blades.
“The ‘weak,’ that is.”
I opened my eyes wide and swung the Bone Blade.
Crash!!
The mist blades that touched the Single-Molecule Blade [S] scattered.
“Why did I kill Marceline? I didn’t kill her.”
I watched Blake through the dispersing mist. His dark eyes radiated a profound darkness.
“She died because she was weak, because she was incompetent. Just as nature culls the weak, I merely culled Marceline.”
“….”
“Did you truly expect her to survive when even her perfect plan failed?”
Useless.
That was how Blake described his own mother.
“This world exists for the strong. There is no place for the weak to tread.”
Ashen mist coalesced in Blake’s palms, rising into the air.
“And I have been chosen!”
And I could see it.
One of Blake’s abilities, hidden in the darkness.
◆Scorn for the Weak [L]
: The user’s all stats increase by [+300%] against [entities recognized as weaker than themselves]. Additionally, [targets recognized as weak by the user] have all stats decreased by [-75%], and [abilities/skills] of lower [rank] than the user are sealed.
However, the user requires [grounds] to consider the opponent [weak].
“There is no reason for me to stand on equal footing with the likes of you.”
A thick sneer spread across Blake’s face.
“You treacherous bastard, spouting nonsense with such dedication.”
I kicked off the ground and launched myself upward in an instant.
* * *
Ashen mist coalesced in Blake’s palms.
Adrian lunged at Blake.
A pale afterimage stretched long, and Adrian’s body vanished as if tearing through space itself.
Imperceptible to the eye.
His speed transcended the limits of sensory perception.
Then—.
Kiiing—!
Blake’s black eyes blazed with radiance. The ashen mist gathered in his palms fractured into dozens of strands.
Then split again into hundreds, thousands of strands that poured forth.
Boom boom boom crash!
Successive torrents of mist swept across all directions.
Thousands of attacks saturating the entire space.
Yet.
‘He’s responding to all of it?’
Adrian was reacting to every single attack.
I’d felt it since earlier—his senses and reflexes were extraordinary.
His physical capabilities far transcended the bounds of human limitation.
Crash! The ashen mist erupted once more.
Blake’s body retreated half a step. He gathered the mist’s magical power with his right hand. Adrian gave him no opening.
Bone Blade slashes swept across all directions.
Blake hastily extended his right hand, but—.
…it was too late.
Adrian tore through the mist faster than it could coalesce into a single point.
Not a trace of composure remained in his expression.
…This is dangerous.
Above all.
‘My Authority…!’
It’s not working.
Forget, forget, forget. I continued invoking my Authority, but Adrian remained unaffected. My Authority couldn’t stop him.
Rather—.
‘He’s absorbing my Authority?’
And with each absorption, Adrian grew stronger.
That strange bone.
The nature of the bone-forged blade protruding beneath Adrian’s elbow suddenly transformed.
It was no longer a Bone Blade made of mere bone.
Harder than steel, yet not steel itself—something else entirely.
My power was completely failing now. The moment it touched that blade, it was entirely ‘nullified’ and scattered.
But how?
A weapon that neutralizes power—could something with such absurd performance actually exist?
Blake’s dark eyes narrowed.
The thought that Adrian was weaker than him no longer came easily.
If this is how it is… I have no choice.
Blake opened his mouth briefly.
“Struggling like that.”
Control is still difficult, but….
“Stop pretending to be strong.”
Against a formidable opponent like Adrian, I had to wring out victory.
* * *
…The momentum had changed.
Blake’s dark eyes held an even deeper darkness.
As if swallowing light, the whites of his eyes turned completely black, becoming inverted eyes.
A sword-shaped tattoo carved from his left eye through his forehead to his jaw, and a pitch-black aura coiled around Blake’s entire body, rising into form.
Darkness deeper than darkness itself.
It wrapped around his hand and slowly took shape.
A blade of absolute black.
Blake’s momentum transformed once more.
Blake’s eyes had become completely inverted, filled with darkness.
A thick killing intent that pierced my skin.
‘It comes.’
By the time I noticed, the blade of absolute black was already flying toward my throat in a crescent arc.
Different. But that’s all.
The Monomolecular Blade severs molecular-level bonding structures, completely ignoring durability and defense by 100% regardless of any material.
◆Fusion Skill, Monomolecular Blade [S] activated!
The true blade and the blade of absolute black collided.
The blade of absolute black was severed in an instant and vanished.
“…!!”
Blake’s inverted eyes wavered.
An opening. I don’t miss it.
I twisted the trajectory of the true blade.
Shhhhiing!
With the sound of paper tearing, the landscape split in two.
Blake?
…He vanished.
At a distance away. Gathered mist expelled Blake.
─Whoosh!
Ashen mist rippled around the reconstructed blade of absolute black.
‘…His movements have become faster than before.’
This is the power of Contempt for the Weak [L].
When facing an entity recognized as weak, all stats increase by +300%.
In other words, Blake recognizes me as weak.
This is possible because Contempt for the Weak [L]’s activation condition is entirely based on ‘subjective perception.’
Thus, Blake has become overwhelmingly faster and stronger.
Mist gathered at the edge of the jet-black blade slowly dispersed, staining the space around us.
The spreading ashen mist rippled with razor-sharp intensity.
As Blake swung his sword with tremendous force—
Shrieeek!!
Every space the mist passed through was completely pierced.
A power that seemed to corrode space itself.
…But.
Crash crash crash!
The cascading thorns of mist vanished helplessly the moment they touched my true blade.
It was inevitable.
The Monomolecular Blade [S] severs molecular-level bonding structures, rendering all things completely null.
Blake’s eyes trembled ever so slightly.
—I exploit that opening once more.
Boom!
My body shot forward, leaving a long afterimage in its wake.
Stats amplified by Accelerated Heartbeat [E] and Draconic Transformation [E].
I could discern it clearly.
‘My stats haven’t decreased.’
In other words, Contempt for the Weak [L] hasn’t fully activated.
Furthermore, my abilities and skills remain unsealed.
Since Contempt for the Weak [L]’s activation condition is ‘subjective perception,’ the user needs ‘grounds’ to recognize the target as weak.
If the target cannot be confirmed as weak?
Blake must establish those grounds himself.
The most certain way is to fight directly and win.
Yet it doesn’t manifest simply by gaining superiority in combat power alone.
Mental strength, the caliber of one’s existence.
Momentum and an unbreakable resolve.
If even one aspect doesn’t suggest weakness, Contempt for the Weak [L] won’t fully activate.
In other words, Blake currently lacks sufficient grounds to regard me as ‘weaker’ than himself.
That’s why Blake unleashed everything.
By seizing momentary superiority, he sought to establish grounds for recognizing me as weak.
However, even with +300% amplified stats, he cannot overwhelm Accelerated Heartbeat [E] and Draconic Transformation [E].
Mental superiority through the Authority of Oblivion.
That too was perfectly countered by the Successor’s Will [EX].
Above all, Blake’s every attack and defense was rendered futile by the Single-Molecule Blade[S].
Between myself and Blake.
All advantage lay decisively with me—.
“This is absurd…!!”
Blake’s Contempt for the Weak[L] began to fade.
Blake’s mental fortitude and momentum wavered, and his two hands gripping the obsidian sword trembled ever so slightly.
His confidence in himself crumbled, fractures etched into his resolve.
Now was the moment to press the advantage.
I had to erase his foundation entirely.
I drew upon everything within me.
◆Ultimate Skill, Predator[M] activated!
* * *
…The momentum had changed.
Adrian’s crimson eyes deepened with an even richer bloodlust.
As if swallowing reason itself, the whites of his eyes flooded entirely crimson, transforming into inverted eyes.
Uncontrolled ferocity.
It pierced through Blake.
“Futile!”
Blake surged forward. Adrian had already reacted.
Adrian closed the distance in an instant.
A speed that transcended imagination. Incomparably faster than moments before.
“What—!”
Adrian’s main blade swept through without a sound.
The response came too late.
Blake’s right arm was slashed deeply. It was not a fatal wound.
But the impact was undeniable.
The arm holding the obsidian sword wavered for an instant. The blade’s trajectory shifted, and Adrian seized that opening.
Thud—!
A tremendous impact struck Blake. His grip shattered.
“Aaaahhhhh!!”
He roared, drawing power upward.
Explosive mist erupted. It consumed Adrian.
But this would not suffice.
It was merely a distraction at best.
Yet the power of his authority amounted to nothing more than a distraction.
‘Damn it!’
Blake cursed inwardly.
What manner of absurdity was this?
The mist that had consumed Adrian was torn asunder and vanished. Adrian moved immediately.
Crack—!
Blake’s teeth clenched involuntarily.
By Blake’s calculations, he should have subdued Adrian long ago. Yet what was the result now?
Subdued? He was being pushed back instead.
…This was genuinely dangerous.
Blake widened the distance between them.
He needed to evade.
Any further combat was truly perilous.
But Adrian showed no intention of releasing him. Even as Blake created distance, Adrian did not relent.
Eyes fixed upon Blake.
Devoid of reason, devoid of fear.
A beast forged from mindless killing intent.
…Dangerous. Truly dangerous.
Most of all, that True Blade.
It nullified every power Blake possessed.
Therefore, he could not respond.
Evade? Impossible.
The flow of his powers was forcibly severed, and even the mist’s mana dissipated.
Before Adrian’s True Blade, no attack or defense held any meaning—
‘Stronger than me?’
The thought finally reached that conclusion.
…No, no. It couldn’t be.
That was something that could not and should not exist.
Bloodshot veins erupted across Blake’s eyes.
“Don’t you dare feign strength!!!”
His trampled pride writhed back to life.
He summoned mist to erect a barrier wall.
And it was mercilessly cleaved asunder.
The mist scattered and vanished.
Then, as the True Blade and the obsidian sword met—
‘Now!’
Blake concentrated his power into the obsidian sword.
The obsidian sword detonated, unleashing a torrent of darkness.
Kwaaaang—!
Two silhouettes crossed within the explosion.
And then—
Schwick!
Blake’s entire left shoulder was severed clean away.
* * *
Blake’s severed left shoulder.
It fell through the air, leaving a crimson arc in its wake.
“GRRRRAAAAAAHHHHH!!!”
Blake let out a horrific scream.
And before my eyes, a message materialized.
◆The Ultimate Skill, Predator[M], is being deactivated.
As my rationality, completely consumed by instinct, began to return—
“Cough…!!”
Blood erupted from my mouth in a torrent.
The Ultimate Skill, Predator[M].
The tremendous strain on my body left me unable to move.
But that wasn’t all.
When I looked down, my chest was crushed and mangled.
A gaping wound.
Blood poured endlessly from it.
Regeneration… was impossible.
The Predator[M] had overloaded even my skills.
Moreover, I’d exhausted every last calorie.
I… couldn’t move my body.
Blake had sustained considerable damage as well.
The sword-marked tattoo had vanished.
His left shoulder severed. The reversed curse mark returned.
Blake pressed his right arm against the wound to stanch it.
Mist wrapped around the injury in an attempt to stop the bleeding, yet blood continued to flow.
Sharp agony was etched across Blake’s face.
Just then.
Footsteps echoed from a distance.
“You there! Are you alright!!”
And a familiar voice reached my ears.
Leon and Captain Lucas were rushing toward us.
Behind them, Royal Guard knights arrived in succession, encircling the scene. Soon Leon’s gaze turned toward Blake—
“You…!”
Leon’s Present Time[L] had detected Blake’s presence.
Blake’s bloodshot eyes gleamed with a razor-sharp light. Then, with a vicious expression, he glared at me.
“Don’t think this is the end…!!”
In that instant, the mist that had been stanching his wound swirled violently, enveloping him.
Blake gradually disappeared into the mist.
Leon’s Present Time[L] flashed with urgency.
“Captain Lucas!”
The moment Leon’s cry fell—
BOOM!
Captain Lucas charged forward at tremendous speed.
Shing—!
A radiant aura blade gleamed with crystalline clarity.
Lucas’s sword swept through the air in a single fluid motion, cleaving space itself asunder.

—————

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

—————