The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 183

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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 183. The Darkness Lord
Adrian suddenly covered his face with one hand.
His entire body trembled, quivering uncontrollably.
He swallowed hard, his shoulders heaving—
“Kekeke…!”
Laughter seeped through the gaps between Adrian’s fingers as he gripped his face.
The laughter spread wider and wider through the cracks of his clenched fist.
And then, finally.
“Hahahahahaha!!”
Unable to contain himself any longer, Adrian threw his head back and burst into laughter.
Blake, watching this spectacle, had a thought.
“….”
…Was he insane?
There was truly no one quite as mad as this.
No, it went beyond mere insanity.
This was the level of someone whose sanity had been flushed down a cesspit.
In other words, a man devoid of reason.
It seemed fear had shattered his mind, leaving him completely unhinged.
Soon Adrian’s eyes turned toward Blake.
Those crimson pupils, swirling with exhilaration and madness, resembled a predator stalking its prey.
Yet that momentum was directed downward.
All advantage lay with Blake.
Blake gripped Ahimsayuda with a faint smirk, squeezing it with tremendous force.
Kwaaaaa!
Pitch-black currents coiled around Ahimsayuda. The darkness pooling around Blake transformed entirely into slashing strikes that swept across all directions.
Pssshhh!!
The landscape was carved to pieces.
There was no escape.
These slashes that carved up everything in all directions—no one could evade them.
Of course, if Adrian displayed that abnormal joint mobility from last time… that might be different.
If he moved with that frictionless fluidity he’d shown before, he might be able to dodge.
But.
Adrian, who had been charging forward, stopped dead in his tracks.
Confusion flickered across Adrian’s face.
He couldn’t execute that abnormal joint mobility like before.
Adrian ultimately raised his nails to razor sharpness and received the incoming slashes.
Clang—! Clang-clang—!
The slashes ricocheted away with violent friction sounds.
But they merely bounced back, not scattering and dissipating.
This was because Ahimsayuda’s power was infused within them.
Ahimsa Yuda possessed the nature of an infinite series converging to zero, sustaining an invincible state that could never touch anything whatsoever.
Through this, Blake was able to neutralize Adrian’s abilities.
Blake had finally managed to drive Adrian to the brink.
And yet.
Clang! Clang-clang!
…Adrian did not yield easily.
He was reading and countering every trajectory of the blade, every timing, every angle.
‘Even under the pressure of such authority, to display that level of response…’
Remarkable. But that was all.
In this moment, Adrian was utterly the weaker one.
At least, within Blake’s perception.
Slash! Tear!
Wounds carved across Adrian’s body, slicing and rending his flesh. And Adrian could not regenerate them.
The evidence of his weakness grew ever more certain.
“Hahahahahaha!!”
Laughter erupted unbidden.
Just once more.
If I could solidify this evidence one final time.
“Khahahaha!!”
Blake swung Ahimsa Yuda wildly, drunk on exhilaration.
* * *
Caravana had shifted into emergency wartime operations.
The City Hall of Caravana now served as a temporary command center.
“All evacuees accounted for! Begin transport!!”
Levantis, the mayor of Caravana, was overseeing the evacuation of the wounded and citizens.
A city that had been filled with screams and shrieks.
The city lay in ruins.
The ashen fog had not fully dispersed.
Yet.
“Mommy!!”
“Remy!! Ah…! Thank the heavens, thank you…! Thank you so much!”
The spark of hope had not been extinguished.
Fragile though it was, that spark continued to burn.
All of this was due to a single person.
Adrian, the guild master of the Predator Merchant Company.
Had Adrian not held back the mysterious assailant, Caravana would have vanished without form into the ashen fog.
“Mayor! The evacuation of the wounded is complete!”
At the Guard Corps member’s words, Levantis clenched both fists tightly.
“Now evacuate the people-!”
It was at that very moment.
Saaaaaah—!
The ashen mist began to move again.
The fog that I thought had lifted surged violently, engulfing the entire city.
“What is that…?”
As Levantis voiced his confusion, a figure tore through the mist and flew through the air.
Crash!
The body that had been slashed through the air tumbled and slammed into the ground.
Only after rolling across the pavement several times did it finally come to a stop.
A face drenched in blood.
The form was unrecognizable.
But the black hair soaked in crimson…
“…Adrian?”
Levantis’s voice cracked.
“Cough—!”
Adrian answered with a gush of blood instead.
The blood that spilled onto the ground pooled beneath him.
Levantis’s face drained of all color.
“…That can’t be real.”
“Right…?”
The footsteps of the evacuating people came to an abrupt halt.
At that very moment.
Slash!
From within the mist, countless blades of dark shadow poured down upon the people.
No one had time to react.
At that very moment.
Bang!
Only Adrian, sprawled on the ground, threw himself forward.
Like a mane of blood-red fire billowing in the wind.
Adrian, his body covered in gore, positioned himself between the people and the onslaught.
He raised his nails to razor sharpness, blocking the rain of dark blades.
Clang! Clang clang!
Each dark blade that touched Adrian’s nails bounced away.
But he could not block them all.
The dark blades that slipped through tore into Adrian’s flesh.
Blood and tissue scattered.
Yet Adrian did not retreat.
“I’ll hold this line! So please… evacuate the people quickly!”
Adrian shouted.
Levantis clenched his teeth.
…He had to do something.
I had to help Adrian.
But.
Crash! Boom! Shatter!
…Even if I wanted to help, there was nothing I could do.
I had no idea what to do or how to do it.
Before the cascading blades of darkness and the fog engulfing the entire city… there was nothing Levantis could do.
This was neither battle nor war.
A catastrophe of such magnitude it could swallow the entire city of Caravana.
Before a disaster where even resistance was meaningless, there was nothing Levantis could do.
All Levantis could do was stand there dumbly and watch.
…Then I had to do at least that properly.
Keep the people from being swept away by the aftermath.
Let Adrian fight with peace of mind.
“What are you all doing!! Move quickly!!”
I had to evacuate the people as far and as fast as possible.
I had to send every single person farther away.
Adrian, his body drenched in blood, plunged back into the fog.
Levantis clenched both fists tightly.
Everyone clasped their hands together in prayer.
“Please… please…!”
“Adrian…!”
The desperate prayers and wishes of Caravana’s citizens converged toward Adrian’s back.
* * *
Adrian suddenly burst out from the fog.
I wondered why.
“It was because of those meat chunks.”
It was because of the evacuating people.
Adrian deflected all of Blake’s blades before the people.
Each time he did, Adrian carved fatal wounds into his own body.
And he couldn’t even regenerate. What kind of madness was this?
Blake smiled with derision.
“How foolish.”
Truly, he was beyond foolish.
If he had instead used the people as a meat shield to find an opening, the situation might have been different.
But Adrian ground himself down, determined to protect the people to the end.
He wagered his own life for the weak, and continued to do so.
…It was truly laughable.
At the same time, it was infuriating.
-Please… please…!
-Adrian…!
Those wretches who do nothing and merely expect to be saved.
“Do you know what that means, Adrian?”
Blake watched Adrian as he deflected the blades of darkness.
“How much your actions right now defy the natural order.”
He continued with a mocking sneer.
“Those creatures should have been naturally culled by nature. But they’re garbage that survived by clinging to morality and ethics.”
And so the weak grow accustomed to receiving aid.
They always expect to be saved.
Yet they turn away from the responsibility they should bear.
“It’s truly repulsive. That delusion where useless, worthless things believe they have the right to exist.”
And yet Adrian, who regards such things without concern, tries to save everyone.
Drenched in blood, Adrian desperately held his ground, straining to block even one more blade of darkness pouring down upon the people.
Watching that pathetic display…
“Adrian, it’s because of bastards like you that the system crumbles.”
Rage surged within me.
“Because of heroes like you, policies are created for the weak who should be culled. Those who work diligently bear even greater burdens.”
And so the whole collapses.
“Just as pus doesn’t become flesh, forcing the unnecessary to survive only causes everything to rot in the end.”
That is why nature harbors no weakness.
It merely culls and eliminates.
“Only humans mistake the ‘misguided compassion’ of pitying and embracing the weak as virtue.”
Yet humans too are part of nature.
“Defying nature’s law—where the strong survive and the weak are culled—through artificial sympathy is clearly wrong!!”
Blake quickened his pace.
The distance closed rapidly.
Adrian, blocking the blades of darkness, had no room to spare. Blake raised Ahimsayuda high.
The proof of weakness is certain.
Adrian could never escape the grip of absolute power.
“It’s over!!”
Blake brought Ahimsayuda crashing down with tremendous force.
Then—a shudder!
My body trembled at an inexplicable sense of dread.
…What is this?
Killing intent?
No, that couldn’t be.
There was no way Blake could be overwhelmed by Adrian’s aura in this situation.
Blake gritted his teeth.
“Aaaaaaaaa!!”
He roared, forcibly shaking off the creeping dread. Pouring strength into both arms, he brought Ahimsayuda down even harder.
Crash!
Adrian’s claws tangled and collided with Ahimsayuda.
And then.
Ahimsayuda wavered.
‘…It wavered?’
Blake’s dark eyes looked down at Adrian.
Adrian’s crimson gaze fixed on Blake.
In that instant, everything froze.
Blake’s movements stiffened.
…My body won’t move.
An indescribable oppressive force crushed down upon Blake’s frame.
The balance of power reversed in a single heartbeat.
Blake desperately twisted his body and swung Ahimsayuda.
Crash!
Ahimsayuda and Adrian’s claws collided.
Perhaps it was because the hasty swing had thrown his stance into disarray.
That was part of it, but with one arm severed, maintaining balance proved difficult.
An arm woven from mist-like mana.
It was far less stable than an arm of flesh and blood.
…I’m still not accustomed to this new body.
Blake was pushed back slightly.
In other words.
…It was I who was pushed back.
The foundation of the weaker position crumbles.
“This is absurd!!”
Blake gritted his teeth and thrust Ahimsayuda forward.
In that instant, everything froze. My body locked in place.
The arm driving Ahimsayuda ceased its motion.
My shoulders stiffened, my vision twisted.
…Again. Once more.
Some incomprehensible force was suppressing Blake’s body.
It was no mere illusion.
It was not a matter of momentum.
‘This is….’
…An irresistible oppressive force bound Blake in its grip.
* * *
Blake’s movements stuttered and fractured.
Like a puppet suspended by invisible strings, each action felt unnaturally rigid.
‘The effect is working perfectly.’
None other than the title’s effect: 【The Surface’s Apex Predator】.
More precisely, the skill: Predator’s Oppression.
◆Pressure of The Apex
: Upon activation, 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 inflicting [confusion] on prey with weak mental fortitude.
Additionally, [Prey Mark] is inscribed on targets, dealing [+50%] additional damage, and when a marked target dies, nearby enemies fall into [fear] status.
Pressure of The Apex is a title skill.
It is Ian’s ability—one whose mechanism even I don’t fully understand.
Through it, I had escaped the seal of Contempt for the Weak[L].
Pressure of The Apex reduces the stats of all targets I recognize as ‘enemies’ by [-40%].
In other words, Pressure of The Apex is also an authority-based ability rooted in my ‘subjective perception’.
Blake’s movements stuttered and fragmented.
He couldn’t adapt to the suddenly diminished stats.
But that was all it accomplished.
Pressure of The Apex alone couldn’t grant me the advantage.
Blake’s stats were currently amplified by [+300%] from the effect of Contempt for the Weak[L]. Even with a [-40%] reduction, the absolute numbers still favored him over me.
I was reduced by [-75%].
Above all, the skill seal was catastrophic.
Contempt for the Weak[L] seals skills and abilities of lower grades.
Therefore, I could only use skills of [A-] grade or higher.
Only Dragon’s Claw[A] and the Ogre’s abilities were available.
But this meant, in other words—
◆Transcendent Skill, Rampage[?] is activated!!
If I transcended the skill’s grade, it could be used.
The minimum grade needed to escape the seal was Rampage[A-].
Rampage[A-] required 1,600 Sanity—a considerable amount.
But it was sufficient.
I had essentially copied Sanity from Marzen’s Five-Cornered Phantom Formation.
◆Current Sanity: 10,421.
Enough to use Rampage[A-] six times.
And enough to use Rampage[A] three times.
So my options were diverse.
Use Rampage[A-] six times.
Or use Rampage[A] three times.
Or mix Rampage[A-] and Rampage[A] together.
Among all these varied options—
What I chose was—
◆Consuming 6,624 Sanity.
◆Rampage[?] grade is set to [A+].
Rampage[A+]—the transcendent form that could elevate biological evolution to its perfect completion.

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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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