The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 22

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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 22. The Rogue and the First Knight (1)
Kai’s fangs and blade, infused with aura.
They tore through Gelu Drake’s hide.
Had it been the scales of a true dragon, such a thing would have been impossible.
But Gelu Drake’s hide was not as impenetrable as a dragon’s scales.
Kiiieeeek—!!
Gelu Drake shrieked in agony, the radiant predatory instinct within it buckling downward.
Gelu Drake’s eyes blazed in all directions, crying out.
The emotion dwelling in that gaze was….
Ki, ki-rrrk!
Panic. I exploit the opening.
Whoosh!
Driving force through my thighs, my body shot forward like an arrow.
The distance closes rapidly.
Gelu Drake?
Still struggling to regain its composure.
I straightened my stance and drove my fist forward.
A thunderous boom.
A heavy sensation transmitted through my fingertips.
Kiieeeeeek—!!
From Gelu Drake’s gaping maw, torn open by pain, a horrific shriek erupted.
I dealt considerable damage, but regrettably failed to pierce its hide.
Mere blunt force alone could not penetrate Gelu Drake’s hardened skin.
Yet that did not mean the impact was without consequence.
Thud! Boom—! Thwack!
Each time my fist struck Gelu Drake’s body, my knuckles shattered. Bones cracked, flesh was pulped, but….
I did not stop.
I severed the sensory nerves to suppress the pain. I continued battering Gelu Drake’s body relentlessly.
Explosive boom—!!
Like a detonation, the drake staggered backward. Blood poured from the corners of its retreating mouth.
Whether from ruptured organs or not, the blood flowing from Gelu Drake was mixed with unidentifiable chunks of flesh.
The yellow luminescence that once burned in its eyes had long since dimmed.
It was no longer the gaze of a predator.
From the clean wound Kai had carved into it, blood gushed forth in torrents.
It continued spitting blood from the impacts I had inflicted.
Not quite a mortal wound.
But grievous nonetheless.
How much advantage could I truly gain from this?
No—I must not think such things.
I immediately shook my head. I know better than that.
A wounded monster, especially one driven to frenzy, becomes all the more dangerous.
The moment one grows complacent, believing victory is assured.
Gelu Drake would tear both Kai and me to shreds with a single, devastating blow.
Kai understood this truth as well. He refrained from recklessly charging forward, instead holding his breath and tightening his grip on his sword as he watched Gelu Drake’s every movement with meticulous attention.
Gelu Drake exhaled ragged, labored breaths, his gaze fixed upon both of us.
Yet soon after, Gelu Drake withdrew his interest from me.
Upon observing my tattered, battered fists, he deemed me unworthy of serious consideration.
And rightfully so—I could no longer replenish my vitality in my current state.
I had consumed every last piece of monster meat stored within my inventory.
Therefore, regeneration was no longer possible.
In this moment, I posed no genuine threat to Gelu Drake whatsoever.
Thus, he recognized Kai as the far more formidable adversary. Gelu Drake had altered his strategy—Kai must die first, not me.
In my current state, I am no longer the Allied Forces’ Predator, but merely Count Whitewolf’s House’s reckless fool.
And Kai, too, is not the Frost Legion’s commander.
Though Kai had joined forces with me, I confess my understanding of the situation remains unclear.
I harbor no certainty that we could overcome Gelu Drake.
Therefore, the odds heavily favor that I would become prey.
Rather than face such a fate…
‘There’s no helping it.’
I threw my body backward and retreated.
* * *
Adrian suddenly pivoted and fled.
Not a trace of hesitation or doubt crossed his features.
He had cast Kai as bait before Gelu Drake, while he himself sprinted away with every ounce of strength he possessed.
And thus, Adrian vanished from sight in an instant.
Kai’s teeth ground together involuntarily.
So this had been his intention all along.
To use Kai as a sacrificial pawn and preserve his own miserable life.
He should have sensed something amiss from the moment Adrian proposed they face Gelu Drake together.
The only consolation was that Adrian had abandoned Kai, not the soldiers.
Gelu Drake did not pursue the fleeing Adrian.
He had already identified Kai as the most threatening target.
Adrian was merely another creature he could hunt down at his leisure.
Kiiirk!
Gelu Drake let out a contemptuous laugh.
A brilliant, sickly yellow radiance gleamed.
Within it dwelt mockery.
Had he only not ordered the soldiers to fall back…
Such regret washed over him, yet regret—no matter how swift—always arrives too late.
Had he not withdrawn the soldiers, it would have been them sacrificed, not Kai.
Yet I harbored not the slightest intention of becoming prey while sitting idle.
Simply put, the odds of victory were not in my favor.
My blade was sharp enough to cleave through Gelu Drake’s hide and split it asunder.
Just as I gripped my sword with unwavering resolve—
Boom!
Gelu Drake launched itself forward, its claws scraping against the frozen ground.
The distance between us collapsed in an instant.
Talons filled my entire vision as they descended. I swung my blade desperately to parry—
Clang! Clang-clang!
Eerie sparks erupted in all directions.
And I was the one being pushed back.
Gelu Drake had clearly recognized the threat my blade posed.
Unlike its hide, Gelu Drake’s claws inherited every aspect of a true dragon’s nature.
In other words, what I faced now was no different from dragon’s talons themselves.
A simple aura sword could not overcome dragon’s claws.
Even a knight who had reached the rank of Aura Master would find it impossible to contend with.
And I was far from being a Master.
Boom!
The aura wreathing my blade shattered. My body was sent flying backward with tremendous force.
As I regained my bearings, Gelu Drake’s form was already closing in, nearly touching the frozen ground.
A wounded monster.
Its eyes blazed with even greater ferocity and savagery.
Gelu Drake launched itself toward me at a terrifying speed.
‘So fast!’
It was not called the master of Snowy Mountain for nothing.
I could not block this. I could not evade it.
There was no choice left.
I would have to sacrifice bone and accept whatever flesh I could save.
As the impact bore down upon me, I clenched my teeth.
…I had to endure.
Boom!
A tremendous explosion erupted.
But something was wrong.
That blast had not come from me.
I felt no impact whatsoever.
In an instant—
Gelu Drake flew through the air before my eyes.
The airborne Gelu Drake crashed violently into the snowy ground of Snowy Mountain, and the beast struggled to rise from the impact.
Who on earth—? The question was forming when—
“Do not be mistaken.”
A faint voice reached my ears.
Kai’s eyes snapped open.
And when he hurriedly glanced to the side.
Somehow.
“This alliance is only for this once.”
Adrian was chewing and swallowing monster flesh he’d procured from who knows where.
* * *
Since the inventory had weight capacity limits, most of the monster corpses I’d hunted had to be abandoned.
And two weeks was more than enough time for decay to set in.
But the harsh cold of Snowy Mountain dramatically slowed the decomposition process.
It wasn’t just slowing it down—the corpses weren’t decaying at all.
‘Not that decay mattered much anyway.’
I’d eaten the secretions mixed in with the organs; spoiled meat was nothing.
As long as I could extract calories, nothing else mattered.
So while Kai bought me time against Gelu Drake, I activated Metabolic Acceleration [E+] and moved swiftly.
I remembered the regions where I’d hunted.
Finding the abandoned corpses wasn’t difficult.
I quickly scoured two or three locations and filled my inventory to its maximum capacity of 880kg.
The monster corpses, rather than decaying, were frozen solid.
The ones stored in my inventory were fine.
But those exposed directly to the cold were another matter.
Crunch! Crack!
So it felt like I was chewing stone rather than flesh.
Fortunately, my jaw strength of 22 was enough to pulverize even that.
In exchange, my teeth shattered.
But I didn’t mind much.
Crunch! Crackle!
Broken teeth would regenerate anyway.
Right now, calories were all that mattered.
Gulp.
I barely managed to swallow whatever it was—flesh or stone.
And when I turned my gaze, Kai’s expression standing right beside me was quite a sight.
A face and expression as if he were looking at something far beyond a curious animal—a truly bizarre creature.
In some ways, he seemed to regard me as stranger than Gelu Drake.
“You didn’t flee?”
Kai’s question reached me in that instant.
He apparently thought I had run away.
“But why on earth…?”
And he seemed quite bewildered that I’d helped him.
Setting aside the matter of fleeing, truthfully, this was an opportunity to kill Kai if I’d wanted one.
But if Kai died now, it would create considerable complications for me as well.
‘Hunting Gelu Drake becomes far more difficult.’
Pursuing Gelu Drake alone was simply not feasible.
Yet I couldn’t abandon the genetic material of Gelu Drake either.
Naturally, I couldn’t explain these circumstances.
There was neither reason nor time to do so—.
“Don’t get the wrong idea. This alliance is temporary.”
That was all I could manage, brushing past the matter vaguely.
But that statement just now.
‘Wasn’t that Kai’s Affinity Quest?’
It probably was.
Well, regardless.
“Get your head in the game, Kai.”
Having completed my regeneration, I drew both fists toward my chest.
Kai, too, snapped to attention and gripped his sword anew.
At that same moment, Gelu Drake began to slowly rise to its feet.
The Gelu Drake growled menacingly.
No trace of playfulness remained.
What lay ahead was a desperate struggle for survival.
Kill or be killed.
“It’s coming.”
The instant my words left my lips, Gelu Drake lunged forward.
* * *
The moment Adrian’s voice reached his ears, Gelu Drake charged.
Its massive frame tore through the air, and razor-sharp claws ripped across the snowy ground.
A movement that showed no sign of injury whatsoever.
The violent gust of wind momentarily obscured the view with swirling snow—.
Yet Adrian positioned himself at Gelu Drake’s flank in an instant.
Adrian’s fist, clenched with tremendous force.
It scattered like snowflakes.
Crack!
Gelu Drake’s body reeled from the direct impact of Adrian’s punch.
The shock must have been considerable.
Gelu Drake struggled to regain its balance—.
“Kai!!”
Adrian’s shout pierced the air like lightning.
Kai’s blade flashed brilliantly in an instant.
Silver armor gleamed as it caught the frigid air of Snowy Mountain, and Kai’s sword, imbued with aura, blazed with azure light even before his eyes.
‘It’s entirely possible.’
With Adrian at my side—.
‘I can win this.’
Kai had grown certain of 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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