The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 169

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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 169. Breaking Through Limits (1)
Seraphia gathered every ounce of courage in the world and opened her mouth.
Her heart thundered wildly in her chest, threatening to burst.
Adrian’s voice followed.
“During the festival?”
“…I think I m-made a mistake with you back then….”
“You remember what happened?”
“Eek!”
Seraphia stifled a cry, clamping her hand over her mouth.
Her face flushed crimson in an instant, and she shrank into herself.
I’d just dug up trouble where there was none.
“I’m so sorry…. I was far too drunk that night….”
Seraphia hung her head low.
“A-and another thing!”
She clenched her fists beneath the desk.
“I j-just… said all that nonsense about how nice your embrace felt… and all that….”
Adrian offered no response.
I wondered what expression he wore, but I lacked the courage to lift my head and see.
Seraphia continued speaking with her eyes squeezed shut.
“T-that was meaningless! Absolutely! I don’t see you in that way or anything like that! Truly!”
Seraphia bowed her head even lower, desperate to hide her scarlet face.
“…P-please don’t misunderstand….”
“I haven’t misunderstood.”
“Eh…?”
“So don’t worry about it.”
Adrian’s response came firm and resolute.
Seraphia’s head snapped up in panic, but Adrian had already left the Administrative Office.
“Haah…!”
Seraphia slammed her forehead against the desk with a dull thud.
My cheeks still burned.
And my chest felt strangely heavy.
“He… didn’t even care….”
In a way, it was only natural.
Yet somehow, I felt disappointed.
My heart ached without reason, as if something were pressing down on it.
“Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Seraphia, you absolute idiot!!”
Thud! Thud! Thud!
“─Aaaaaaah! I don’t know, I really don’t!!”
Seraphia writhed in her seat for a long while, tugging at her hair in frustration.
* * *
Even the dragon’s wrath that once scorched the heavens had fallen out of season.
The princes’ monuments were still loading in the sand.
And someone who skipped past all of it entirely.
In an era where survival had become a cheap joke.
◆A man was walking through the desert while taking full UV damage?!
A translucent message flickered before my eyes.
I couldn’t understand what it had been saying since earlier.
One thing was certain—its dramatics had evolved.
Perhaps it had lost its mind from the four Territory Quests before this.
…In any case.
I turned my steps toward Caravana, the trading city. And with each step, my ankles sank deeper into the sand.
Unlike the Snowy Mountain where bitter cold persisted, this was a harsh environment where scorching heat never ceased.
The Desert.
Unlike the Snowy Mountain where only snow filled the sight, here all that could be seen was an endless golden sea of sand.
Instead of the freezing cold that once froze everything, this place was filled with shimmering heat that melted all things.
An environment opposite to the Snowy Mountain in every way.
Just one thing.
No matter where I looked, there was no sign of life—exactly like that place.
The sun hanging in the sky was intense.
It was unleashing full UV damage, as the message so eloquently put it.
My entire body’s skin burned as if it were cooking—
◆Rigid Body Transformation [U] resists the full UV damage!!
Thanks to Rigid Body Transformation [U], an evolution of Enhanced Skin [B], I was immune to skin burns, and Nutrient Synthesis [B] allowed me to overcome dehydration as well.
I continued walking through the desert sand.
How long had I been walking?
In the distance, at the edge of my vision, something appeared.
It wasn’t a mirage, at least.
Currently, due to Successor’s Will [EX], no form of mental interference—curses, illusions, brainwashing, hypnosis, suggestions, or otherwise—could affect me.
Any mirage powerful enough to influence me would only accumulate Sanity points.
So I secretly hoped it was a mirage…
But it wasn’t.
“Nomads?”
Just as Whitewolf Territory existed in the Snowy Mountain where bitter cold persisted, there were people living in this desert where scorching heat never ceased.
“That’s not it, though.”
The size was unusual, for one.
In other words, it wasn’t in human form.
I activated Predator’s Instinct [S], and information materialized before my eyes.
==【Entity Information】==
Entity: Camirus
Classification: Monster-type Mammal, Artiodactyl, Camelidae
Gender: Female
Age: 24 years
Characteristics: High-Density Adipose Tissue [C+]
Camirus.
As the classification revealed, it was a monster born from a camel’s mutation.
Camirus was an individual that had evolved the hump, a camel’s most distinctive feature.
Thus, a hump rose like a mountain behind its back.
The Desert shared a common trait with the Frozen Peak: scarcity of food.
Yet a stark difference existed between cold and scorching heat.
Therefore, Lex from the Frozen Peak adopted a survival strategy of burning calories through accelerated metabolism [C+] to generate more heat.
But in the Desert?
There was no need to burn calories to generate heat.
So Camirus had adopted a survival strategy of ‘storing’ calories instead.
◆High-Density Adipose Tissue [C+]
: Upon acquiring this skill, the player’s [white fat] cells transform into high-density energy storage form, enhancing the density of [neutral fat] tissue in the body by [+500%].
【This skill applies permanently upon acquisition as a passive skill.】
Neutral fat is a representative energy source.
Therefore, enhanced neutral fat density was equivalent to enhanced energy storage capacity.
Simply put, it was the same principle as increasing the maximum storable calorie limit by [+500%].
“Found it right away.”
This was the monster with the ability I’d been searching for.
“Lucky, aren’t I?”
Camirus was quite a rare monster.
First, the Desert environment itself made finding life extremely difficult.
On top of that, Camirus belonged to the same order as Ogre: the even-toed ungulates.
“Were they a common ancestor?”
That’s what I understood.
Even-toed ungulates that entered the sea: whales.
Even-toed ungulates that went to the Desert: camels.
I’d learned roughly this genealogy from Iliana.
And as one could tell from observing whales.
Even-toed ungulates were inherently massive.
The larger the body, the more food required for survival, yet the Desert’s environment couldn’t provide that level of sustenance.
That’s why they were rare.
And precisely because of that, when prey appeared, its eyes went wild with hunger.
“Hey!”
At my shout, Camirus whipped its head around.
And there stood someone clearly human.
In other words, a weak link in the food chain.
Kwark?!
His eyes shifted to a look of “what unexpected fortune is this?”
Yet he didn’t rush forward recklessly.
“Ah, a title.”
A new title obtained from subjugating none other than Ogre.
==【The Surface’s Apex Predator】==
[Acquisition Condition] – Subjugate Ogre
[Effect 1] – You can use the skill ‘Pressure of The Apex’.
◆Pressure of The Apex
: When this skill is activated, the player emanates the aura of an apex predator standing at the pinnacle of the ecosystem, reducing the [stats] of [all] enemies within range by [-40%], and instantly plunging prey with weak mental fortitude into [confusion]. Additionally, you inscribe [Prey’s Mark] on the target, dealing [+50%] additional damage, and when the marked target dies, nearby enemies fall into [fear] status.
Furthermore, [Prey’s Mark] inscribed on the target inflicts [+50%] additional damage, and when the marked target perishes, surrounding enemies fall into [fear] status ailment.
It was an extraordinary effect.
However, unlike 【Ruler of the North】, it didn’t amplify my own stats.
But there was no restriction condition that only activated in the Northern Region.
It was a versatile effect that reduced all enemies’ stats by [-40%], and the more opponents I faced, the more its true value shone.
Right now, that foul-tempered camel mutant Camirus couldn’t rush forward carelessly.
Just from this, I could tell how threatening a [-40%] reduction truly was.
Moreover, by inscribing [Prey’s Mark], I could inflict [+50%] additional damage, making it an excellent title that demonstrated outstanding effectiveness even in one-on-one combat.
In any case, the moment I equipped the 【The Surface’s Apex Predator】 title.
Screeeech?!
Camirus’s eyes completely shifted to “prey detected”.
She began charging straight toward me.
The sand was soft and sinking, yet Camirus bounded forward with ease.
Her broad, cushioned paws prevented her from sinking into the sand.
Screech! Shriek!!
Camirus sprinted toward me like a madwoman, flinging saliva everywhere.
Judging by the small size of her hump, she’d been starving for days.
Fearing I might escape, she snorted forcefully from her nostrils—
Whoooosh!
She generated a fireball from the hump on her back and hurled it at me.
A bio-form fireball created by burning the thermal energy of densely stored fat.
A camel bearing a hump of flame.
Thus she was named Camirus.
I caught the incoming fireball with my bare hand.
Boom!
A violent impact tore through my palm.
Afterward, searing heat scorched my hand.
◆Hard Body Transformation [U] resists the combustive rupture!
Yet Hard Body Transformation [U] couldn’t overcome the heat resistance.
Screech?!
Camirus, who had been charging, came to a complete halt. She seemed to find it strange that I remained unharmed despite taking a direct hit from the fireball.
And for good reason—there was no creature in the Desert capable of catching Camirus’s flame sphere barehanded.
Its power was identical to a Fireball, after all.
The only difference was that it was composed of fat rather than mana—a mere ‘lump of adipose tissue’.
And this meant, in other words.
Crunch!
It was nothing short of an excellent caloric supplement for me.
◆Are you in your right mind!??!
A message filled with indignation materialized before my eyes.
Screech, screeeech?!
Camirus leaped up from the spot in turn.
And for good reason—there was no creature anywhere across the Continent that could chew and swallow a Fireball.
Yet my body, reinforced by Ogre Predation [S+], was still a body, and Hardened Transformation [U] rendered this degree of heat utterly harmless to me.
Thus the hot, oily taste that flooded my mouth.
Perhaps because it was pure fat.
Munch, munch.
“…This is delicious?”
The flavor itself was remarkably excellent.
Quite savory, and the more I chewed, the more umami I detected.
Monster meat—passing grade.
A taste nearly rivaling Lex meat, which seemed like it would be quite popular if sold as a specialty menu item.
◆Are you actually insane?!?!!
Another message obscured my vision.
Screech, screeeeeech?!?!?
Camirus’s eyes went wide as saucers as well.
The gaze that had been ‘prey detected’ just moments before instantly transformed into ‘what kind of insane creature is this?!’
And as the saying goes, it’s best not to associate with madness.
Or rather, one should never eat such a mad creature.
The hump on its back twitched, and it began slowly, cautiously turning its body around.
Screech, screeeech!!
And with a shriek, Camirus fled.
Fearing I might give chase, it sprayed the remaining heat from the hump on its back and bolted with all its might.
Consequently, its speed was tremendous.
I chewed and swallowed all the remaining flaming fat.
◆You have accumulated +13,210 Kcal.
Certainly, being ‘high-density’ fat must be the reason.
◆High-density fat, what high-density fat!!
It was several times more calorie-dense than Avarus’s flesh.
I concentrated all the newly accumulated calories into my legs.
Whoooosh!
In an instant, heat surged through my legs, and flames erupted upward.
Energy spreading and dispersing in all directions.
I forcibly seized hold of it.
Through that, the pressure just before detonation condensed into my two legs.
◆Eruption Skill, Dragon Impact [E] activated!!
The moment I triggered it simultaneously.
◆Camirus has been eliminated!
◆Acquired 190 combat experience!
I pierced straight through the fleeing Camirus’s heart in a single strike.
* * *
Dragon Impact [E] was a skill that blasted away both legs entirely while charging forward at tremendous speed.
But my legs remained intact.
…Well, not entirely intact.
Yet they were functioning brilliantly as legs nonetheless.
“I can withstand subsonic speeds now.”
Subsonic—a speed slightly slower than the speed of sound.
My body, enhanced by Ogre Predation [S+], had become capable of enduring the resistance of subsonic velocities.
Transonic, equivalent to the speed of sound itself.
And supersonic, breaking through the sound barrier.
I couldn’t yet withstand the resistance of those two, but through repeated physical conditioning, I gained absolute certainty that I would eventually endure them as well.
Thus, I shoved all of Camirus’s heart into my mouth.
◆Predated the genetic factors of the individual ‘Camirus’!
◆3 Sanity points have accumulated.
◆Acquired Skill, High-Density Adipose [D]!
The predation completion message materialized before my eyes, and my body began to transform.

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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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