The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 144

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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 144. The Ogre (3)
The fallen Dwarves staggered to their feet, their bodies trembling.
They steadied their minds and bodies, which had been shattered by the Ogre’s roar, and barely managed to lift their heads.
And what entered the Dwarves’ field of vision was….
Adrian, who had torn the Ogre away from Arcanoheart.
Adrian, now facing the Ogre head-on.
I had become the Ogre’s target.
“Hahahahahaha!!”
Yet Adrian was erupting in maniacal laughter.
…I was not in my right mind.
To put it bluntly, I seemed mad.
How could I laugh like that with the Ogre right before me?
…No matter how I looked at it, I was not sane.
The Ogre’s eyes gleamed.
The gaze of a predator that had found its prey.
Boom! Crack-boom!
Adrian and the Ogre charged at each other simultaneously.
Crash!
An explosion that sent tremors through space itself.
It was Adrian who was sent flying backward.
The Ogre’s stance remained unmoved.
Adrian regained his balance in an instant.
As I extended both arms forward, crash!
A torrent of explosive force shot in a straight line at the Ogre.
The Ogre did not dodge it.
Boom!!
A deafening blast erupted. The Ogre’s skin charred.
The impact was not insignificant. Yet it was minimal. Not fatal.
The Ogre clenched both fists.
Within those clenched fists dwelt a destructive force.
It generated a shockwave so heavy and immense it engulfed the entire space.
Boom-boom-crash!
With the collision, waves of force rippled outward in all directions.
The earth erupted, and the fractured soil scattered into fine dust.
…And Adrian?
I was crushed beneath the Ogre’s fist.
Pressed down so low I nearly touched the ground—.
…yet I endured.
Even as every sinew in my body snapped and tore, I continuously regenerated and held firm.
“What… what… what is this…!”
“Is that even possible…?!”
The Dwarves’ shock echoed through the chamber.
Adrian surged forward.
His nails sharpened to lethal points, he tore through the Ogre’s hide and bone without mercy. In an instant, the Ogre’s arm was shredded to tatters.
The Ogre staggered backward, overwhelmed by agony.
“The Ogre…!”
“He made it retreat…?”
…It was utterly incomprehensible.
Adrian and the Ogre.
Their relationship was not predator and prey.
Predator and predator.
A battle to determine which of the two apex predators reigned supreme.
Yet that was… impossible.
Absolutely impossible.
How could a human body challenge an Ogre?
KRAAAAAAAAAAGH—!!!
The Ogre’s roar consumed the space around us. The dizzying resonance blurred my vision, and my breathing faltered.
I retreated a step. My eyes widened with intensity.
The emotion burning within them was not confusion.
Exhilaration. Ecstasy.
Such feelings blazed in my eyes—
BOOM!
A burst of energy shot forth in a straight line toward the Ogre.
* * *
KRAAAASH—!
The explosion detonated with a thunderous crack.
Sharp killing intent pierced through my entire body.
I kicked off the ground and desperately widened the distance.
CRASH!!
The moment I created space, the Ogre’s fist slammed down where I had stood.
Had my reaction been even slightly slower, my body would have been obliterated.
I cannot use my Regeneration [B+] ability if my heart is destroyed.
The Ogre, however, lacked a Regeneration [B+] ability.
Yet it possessed abnormal recovery power.
A monomolecular blade [S] without a Bone Blade.
My damage output is limited.
…I cannot deliver a fatal blow.
The damage I can inflict with Dragon Burst [E] is equally constrained.
‘…A direct confrontation won’t work.’
It simply cannot be established.
The fundamental disparity in power was far too severe.
That I could endure at all was thanks to the caloric conversion of Dragon Humanization[E].
The calories converted matched the Ogre’s monstrous strength.
I had to avoid impacts that would mean instant death, but I could regenerate[B+] virtually without limit.
Had I dragged this into a protracted battle, victory would have been possible… but.
‘Time is running short.’
…Dragon Humanization[E]’s duration is not infinite.
When Rampage[?] ends, Dragon Humanization[E] is also released.
At that point… I cannot win.
I needed one decisive strike.
One fatal blow capable of piercing through the Ogre’s heart and tearing it out.
What if I used Radiant Dragon’s Wrath[L]?
I could eliminate the Ogre in a single instant.
‘That won’t work.’
During the casting time for Radiant Dragon’s Wrath[L], the Ogre wouldn’t simply stand idle, and the evolution Quest’s objective isn’t hunting the Ogre—it’s ‘Devour’.
If I use Radiant Dragon’s Wrath[L], the Ogre will vanish without leaving a speck of dust.
I won’t be able to Devour[S+] the Ogre.
Yet if a situation arose where I had to use it, I would have to use it without hesitation.
I cannot sacrifice people for the sake of some evolution Quest, for the sake of some Devour[S+].
Which is precisely why.
‘I cannot use it.’
I must not use Radiant Dragon’s Wrath[L].
The Arcanoheart could be caught in the blast radius.
No—it absolutely will be.
Even now it’s considerably unstable.
Seraphia is controlling it with all her might, but if any more shock is applied there, even she will struggle to maintain control.
‘Still, if worst comes to worst….’
I’ll have to use Radiant Dragon’s Wrath[L].
The saving grace was that the Dwarves who had collapsed were awakening one by one and moving.
They were repairing some device for transporting the Arcanoheart.
But the Ogre—
seemed to have noticed that fact.
Suddenly, the Ogre lifted its foot high.
The Ogre’s gaze was no longer directed at me.
It had ceased fighting for the hunt.
Through Dragon Humanization[E], the Ogre recognized me as a young dragon.
One that regenerated infinitely at that.
Seeing that I would not be easily hunted, the Ogre no longer recognized me as prey.
A being that must be killed and eliminated for the prosperity of the species—
its only natural enemy.
He was now accepting our battle not as a mere hunt, but as a matter of survival.
The Ogre’s intelligence was far from low.
More precisely, a whale’s intelligence was not low.
Whales communicated with their own kind, understood themselves and their environment, and possessed the intelligence to make judgments suited to their circumstances.
The Ogre was a mutation of such a whale.
In other words, it was a monster with the intelligence to perceive that I was guarding the Arcanoheart.
And it was attempting to exploit that.
Not through raw strength, but through strategy.
It was trying to shift the tide of this battle.
Then the Ogre’s massive foot came crashing down upon the earth with tremendous force—
KRAAAAAASH—!!
The ground erupted entirely, and the surrounding terrain collapsed wholesale.
It did not stop there.
The Ogre immediately brought its second foot down.
BOOM-CRACK!!
The collapsed earth split open once more with brutal force, and massive fissures spread outward in all directions.
The ground, weakened by the preceding battle.
It reached its limit and heaved violently—
Rumble, rumble, rumble…!
Shattered rocks from Rocky Mountain came cascading down in an avalanche.
A catastrophic landslide.
Enormous boulders fell mercilessly, destroying the barriers the Dwarves had hastily constructed.
CRASH—!
Finally, one of the rocks collided directly with the Arcanoheart.
It did not end there.
Countless boulders were falling toward the Arcanoheart.
“Damn it all!!”
I ground my teeth and swung my Single-Molecule Blade [S] toward the cascading rocks from Rocky Mountain.
* * *
A boulder struck the Arcanoheart directly.
“It’s… over.”
One of the Dwarves murmured.
And no one among them refuted it.
From that impact just now, the Arcanoheart’s runaway state…
RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE—!!
Had finally exceeded the point of overheating.
With this, Feractrum, the Dwarves—
“Everything…”
“It’s all… over.”
Had come to a complete and utter end.
There is no longer any way to stop the rampaging Arcanoheart.
Kuguguguguguguugu─!!
The air trembled and roiled as if boiling from the colossal vibrations.
Despair spread among the Dwarves.
Not a soul dared to harbor hope.
In that moment when all were certain this situation could not be overcome—
“It’s not over yet!!”
A cry pierced through the chaos.
Seraphia, who had been containing the Arcanoheart’s rampage.
Her power was remarkably extraordinary, yet she had reached her limits.
She could not stop the Arcanoheart’s runaway surge.
But Seraphia showed no sign of surrender.
And the reason she refused to give up was—
“We don’t need some Runesteel Ore Vein!!”
It was not greed for the Runesteel Ore Vein.
“Don’t do thiiiis—!!”
Seraphia clenched her teeth and stretched out her hands.
Even as her small frame staggered beneath the fierce magical power of the rampaging Arcanoheart.
“Without it—!!
Even as her eyes were bloodshot and tears of blood streamed down her face.
Blood poured from her nose, crimson rivulets seeping through her tightly clenched lips.
“I can’t protect the Dwarves’ precious homeland!!”
Seraphia was fighting.
That was why they were fighting.
Tearing through the cascading boulders from Rocky Mountain—
“Big brother too—!”
Desperately rising with a battered body—
“Kai as well—!”
And Seraphia too.
“Fighting without surrender until the very end—!!”
So then—!!
“Dwarves, don’t you give up either!!!”
Kiiiiiiiiiing─!!
A bizarre power transcending all limits erupted from her small frame, burrowing ever deeper into the rampaging energy.
But that—
Set the Ogre in motion.
Ferocious eyes slowly turned toward Seraphia.
Kwaaaaaaaaaaagh─!!!
And with a tremendous roar, the Ogre’s colossal body charged toward Seraphia.
In this very moment.
The Ogre’s survival instinct recognized Seraphia as a threat far more dangerous than any dragon.
“Human woman!!”
“Flee!!”
Seraphia did not evade.
She did not run.
Until the very end, her hands controlling the Arcanoheart never wavered.
─It was at that moment.
“Uuuaaaaaahhhhh!!”
Broombar unleashed a primal roar and charged forward.
Every muscle in his body swelled with tremendous force—.
“I am Broombar!!”
As if to prove the weight contained in that name.
“So long as I draw breath, my brother’s screams shall never reach these ears!!!”
Fist against fist. Strength against strength.
Two colossal impacts collided in an instant, becoming a single explosion.
Kwaaaaaaang─!!!
“Clan chief!!”
“Everyone, aid the clan chief!!”
“B-but we can’t get close…!”
“Uuuaaahhh!”
The Dwarves were swept up in the shockwave and sent flying.
Broombar was not unscathed.
His bones screamed in agony, and his muscles tore to shreds.
The Ogre remained unaffected.
Strength was one thing, but the skeletal frame supporting it was one reason the Ogre earned the title of apex predator of the land.
An overwhelmingly durable, supreme frame capable of absorbing catastrophic impacts.
Therefore, technique was unnecessary.
Sheer strength alone overwhelmed all.
With Broombar’s abilities… he could never prevail.
Yet he would not retreat.
Not a single step backward.
The Arcanoheart…. Feractrum….
The Dwarves…!
And for the sake of the Dwarves—.
“Hrraaahhh—!!!”
For the humans who fought without fleeing, risking their very lives—!
“Uuuaaaaaahhhhh─!!!”
I must protect them!
Kwang—! Kwang—! Kwang!
The intervals between colliding fists grew shorter.
Boom, boom-crack! Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-crack!!
The explosions grew shorter and more rapid.
Broombar did not retreat.
Ogre did not yield either.
Their fists collided in relentless succession—
Broombar’s muscles burst apart entirely.
Bones shattered, joints crushed to fragments.
Yet Broombar did not take a single step backward.
He did not fall. He did not stop.
His feet remained planted firmly upon the earth—
His fists still colliding with Ogre’s—
Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-crack!!
Even Ogre could not bring Broombar down.
He pressed forward relentlessly, yet could not topple him.
The invincible Ogre.
And yet, before him, Broombar became an impenetrable fortress that no one could shatter.
An Unbreakable bastion.
* * *
As if the entire mountain were collapsing.
Boulders cascaded down from all directions in an avalanche.
Once I shattered and dispersed all the threatening debris—
Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-crack!!
I could see Broombar holding his ground against Ogre.
The hero of the Allied Forces stood firm like an Unbreakable fortress [A+], trading blows with Ogre’s fists.
But he cannot endure much longer.
He is already at his limit.
With each collision of fists against Ogre, Broombar surpassed his limits moment by moment.
Finally, Broombar coughed up blood in a violent gush.
“Kha-ha-hack!!”
Dark blood overflowing from his limits splattered across the earth.
Yet he did not fall. Instead, he drove his feet deeper into the ground and clenched his fists with greater force.
The time Broombar has endured.
And the time he continues to endure.
…Time is running out.
Too late. Growing later. It will be too late.
I must find a way.
But how…?
Radiant Dragon’s Wrath [L] cannot be used.
Dragon Burst [E] lacks sufficient power.
…Think. …Remember.
That memory from that day.
Do not turn away from it. Face it to the very end.
-Speed is swiftness.
That despair from back then.
-Conjure the image of lightning once more.
Lightning hesitates not.
In a single fleeting instant, it tears through the heavens and strikes downward in a straight line.
That movement carries no vacillation, no regret.
It plunges toward a single objective along the shortest path.
…Now, I must do the same.
◆I activate the derived skill, Dragon Burst [E]!
Dragon Burst [E] allows me to select calories in ‘any amount’ I desire.
…I do not think of what comes after.
Only without hesitation.
Not faltering for even a single moment.
I expend every remaining calorie-.
‘Detonating it all at once.’
If calories are depleted, Regeneration [B+] becomes impossible.
Then everything ends.
But I do not think of this.
Without this moment, there is no future.
Whoosh, whoooosh!
Calories detonate entirely as raging flames surge through my body.
Dragon Burst [E] releases an instantaneous energy explosion by concentrating calorie ‘consumption’ in ‘desired regions’.
Therefore, the region where I now detonate all my calories is-.
The lower body.
That is, I concentrate everything into my legs.
While Broombar holds the Ogre in place.
Tearing through the ground itself, surpassing the Ogre’s nerve response speed-.
I must pierce a single point.
Without hesitation.
Not faltering for even a single moment.
Toward a single objective.
I must stake everything I possess!
My senses converge upon a single point.
Muscle fibers contract beyond their limits.
Nerves become acutely heightened. A crushing pressure floods into my legs as if they might burst.
And as the explosive energy condenses and condenses and condenses once more within both legs-.
◆Dragon Burst [E] erupts!!
Divergence.
It refers to a transformation into a new form while inheriting the existing characteristics.
◆You have acquired the Divergent Skill, Dragon Impact [E]!
◆Dragon Impact [E]
: When this skill is activated, the player concentrates [desired amounts] of [calories] into the [legs], triggering an instantaneous explosion that propels the player in a [straight trajectory].
When the concentrated calories exceed [30,000Kcal], the player breaks through [the sound barrier (1,235km/h)], causing [instantaneous damage] to increase [25-fold], and creates an explosion at the impact point, dealing additional [area damage].
【This skill is a Divergent Skill that evolved from Dragon Burst [E].】
There was no time to review the skill description.
◆You activate the Divergent Skill, Dragon Impact [E]!!
My body was already tearing through space in a violent surge.
* * *
The Ogre’s fists came crashing down in relentless waves.
…It’s the limit.
‘More…! Beyond this…!!’
Just as Broombar’s consciousness began to fade─.
He could see it.
Above Rocky Mountain, Adrian wrapped in scorching flames around both legs.
Adrian slowly lowered his stance.
Fingers pointed upward─.
His crimson eyes fixed upon the Ogre─.
In the instant his gaze flashed─.
Beneath this sky.
The true apex predator awakens.

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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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