The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 248

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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 248. The Heroes of Whitewolf Territory (1)
Dracula’s severed head lay scattered across the ground.
Sarpedon’s eyes blinked in disbelief.
Unable to comprehend what had just transpired.
Suddenly, four wolves lunged into Sarpedon’s field of vision.
“Spirits, I beseech you—protect them.”
Rielin, the Forest Keeper of the Elven Forest.
“Have you ever witnessed what happens when a Dwarf becomes truly enraged?”
Broombar, the Dwarf Chieftain.
“Seraphia told me not to intervene, but…!”
Iliana, the prodigious mage.
And.
Kai, baring his azure fangs.
“Leave the rear to us.”
The heroes of Whitewolf Territory tore through the immortal legion.
* * *
Kai positioned himself in front of Sarpedon.
A glimpse of Sarpedon’s condition was dire.
The state of the other Vister soldiers was no different.
Many would never rise again without immediate treatment.
Time was running out.
Yet unknown enemy forces blocked their path.
Kai swung his blade with tremendous force.
A sharp whistle cut through the air—!
A blue flash traced an arc, cleaving one of the blocking enemies in two.
A fatal wound that should have meant death.
Yet it did not die.
The bisected body began moving independently.
‘Undead?’
At first glance, it appeared so.
But it was not undead.
Undead would have shown decay throughout their bodies.
Yet this creature radiated vitality.
Above all, while undead cannot die.
They cannot rejoin severed upper and lower halves like this.
‘Regeneration?’
…No.
This was not regeneration.
Kai understood the power of regeneration well.
He had observed Adrian most closely.
And regeneration is the extension of life that allows torn flesh and broken bones to grow anew.
It was never a power to resurrect the dead.
But they had defied death itself.
This was a power that restored even death to its original state.
It was akin to Kai’s Restoration.
Yet it differed from Kai’s as well.
Kai’s Restoration is a method of ‘resisting’ death.
But they felt closer to ‘negating’ death entirely.
Kai furrowed his brow.
I had definitely seen this before.
None other than Adrian’s field manual.
It contained information about various entities, including Wearbeasts and others.
‘…Are they vampires?’
Kai recalled the vampire countermeasures from memory.
==[VAMPIRE FIELD RESPONSE PROTOCOL]==
└Hey, you see those corpse-like bastards?
└Those are vampires.
└These damn things don’t die!
└Their intelligence is insanely high too!
└Don’t use sloppy bait tactics. You’ll get turned around instantly.
└You have to take out the command unit first. Kill the Lord-class and the ones below panic.
└The command unit won’t die?
└Then we might have to go after the Queen?
└What the hell!
└How are we supposed to kill someone the Supreme Commander couldn’t!!
└Damn it! Is there any way?
└No! No matter what we do, these bastards won’t die!
└What kind of things are these?!
└Hey hey! According to the Mage Corps, if you forcibly enforce this world’s laws, you can eliminate them!
└What kind of bullshit is that?
└They said if you forcibly inject the concept of death into the vampires, it works?
└How do you even do that?
└I don’t know, damn it!!
The field manual presented two methods to eliminate vampires.
First was to eliminate the Vampire Queen.
But that seemed impossible.
The Supreme Commander mentioned in the countermeasures.
I didn’t know who that was, but….
‘At minimum, they must be an existence equal to or greater than Adrian.’
In other words, the Vampire Queen was a target Adrian himself could not kill.
Therefore, Kai is also an opponent who cannot be killed.
Then there is only one practical method remaining.
The absolute law of this world.
To force death upon the vampires.
The text did not explain how to enforce the law.
But there was a hint.
I swung my sword in a wide arc once more.
After holding back the surging Vampire Legion, I lifted Sarpedon to his feet.
Sarpedon’s face was drenched in blood.
Sarpedon barely managed to speak.
“Th-thank you….”
Fortunately, he had not died.
But his body temperature was steadily dropping.
“Say anything—just keep talking. You cannot lose consciousness.”
I hoisted Sarpedon onto my shoulders and moved toward the rear.
Sarpedon continued muttering, heeding my warning.
Thank you for accepting us, wretched as we are….
Thank you for calling us people again, not garbage….
I am truly, truly grateful….
…His mind was half gone.
Sarpedon continued repeating the same words, unaware of who was supporting him or where they were headed.
After dealing with the vampires charging at me once more, I shouted.
“Everyone, gather to me!!”
Rielin was the first to approach with nimble grace.
Iliana followed, blinking to my side.
Broombar came last, crushing vampires as he advanced.
I spoke first to Rielin.
“Rielin, please move the wounded to safety and reorganize our rear forces.”
“Understood.”
I handed Sarpedon to Rielin.
Rielin immediately summoned spirits to heal and transport Sarpedon and the other wounded.
“Broombar, break through the left flank and shake their formation as much as possible.”
“Got it!”
Broombar charged forward, kicking off the ground.
“And Iliana.”
“Yes! What is your command!”
“Can you find a way to eliminate the vampires?”
“…Yes, what?!”
Iliana trembled.
It was clearly an unexpected request, and her bewilderment was evident.
Kai offered a brief explanation.
He conveyed the key characteristics of vampires documented in the field manual.
“You mean….”
Iliana paused to consider, then continued.
“We need to draw the vampires into the laws of this world?”
“I believe that may be the solution.”
Death is the fundamental law of this world.
No one can escape it.
But vampires were different.
They were beings of another realm.
They existed outside the framework where the world’s laws held no sway.
That is why death cannot reach them.
Therefore, if we draw the vampires into this world as its subjects, the world’s power will inevitably lead them to death.
“The only way to eliminate immortality is to suppress it with the world’s power.”
Kai could speak with certainty because he had experienced it firsthand.
No conviction, no resistance.
All crumble before the world’s power.
And Kai was one who defied the laws.
Not one who enforced them.
Therefore, the discipline that interprets the world’s laws—arcane science.
Those who create miracles based on those laws—mages.
Among such mages, one who pierces to the very essence most precisely.
“Let me try…!”
Iliana’s blue eyes gleamed with determination.
Soon she began to attune her mana.
Kai immediately turned his gaze elsewhere.
And where his sword’s tip was aimed.
“I’ll dispose of what remains.”
There, Dracula’s severed head was slowly reattaching itself.
* * *
Dracula’s consciousness flared crimson for an instant, then faded to absolute black.
His body moved.
But his thoughts were severed.
…He seemed to have been trying to do something.
But what was it?
The severed head slowly reattached.
Only then could Dracula discern the source of the dissonance.
…When one’s head is severed, one cannot think.
But who?
No—how?
Dracula didn’t perceive the moment his neck was severed at all.
“What in the….”
As he looked around, chaos reigned supreme.
Some burly Dwarf was decimating the Vampire Legion single-handedly.
The vampires, overwhelmed and defenseless, collapsed as they were driven back in waves.
“What on earth…?”
Behind him, meanwhile.
An even more unbelievable sight was unfolding.
Some delicate Elf was commanding spirits.
The spirit of earth supported the Dwarf.
The spirit of water healed the critically wounded.
The spirit of wind swiftly transported the healed soldiers to the rear.
That slender Elf alone was controlling the entire battlefield perfectly.
Thus, merely two individuals.
The Vampire Legion was being ravaged by just two people.
In that moment.
A handsome man with long golden hair rushed toward Dracula.
Dracula immediately thrust his hand downward.
A crimson veil erupted beneath his feet.
And it was torn asunder.
…This was no ordinary foe.
Realizing this, Dracula retracted the hand he’d extended downward and prepared both defense and offense.
The blood from the torn veil converged into Dracula’s palm.
But it was too late.
A brilliantly luminous aura blade cut through Dracula first.
“What!?”
Bewilderment flickered across Dracula’s eyes.
His steps staggered backward.
Glancing down, a long gash ran across his chest.
The physical wound regenerated in an instant.
But the wound to his spirit did not regenerate so easily.
…I clearly saw it.
It was an obvious attack. Not particularly fast.
I should have been able to counter it.
And yet… I couldn’t block it.
“…Who are you.”
“Kai, a knight of Whitewolf Territory.”
With those words, Kai rushed forward.
Dracula gnashed his teeth and swept his hand across.
A torrent of blood erupted in an instant, and dozens of blood spears rained down in all directions.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!
A crimson tempest swept forth, obscuring everything beyond an arm’s length.
Kai burst through it.
He tore straight through the heart of the maelstrom head-on.
‘He pierced through that…?’
Dracula’s eyes wavered.
Kai gripped his blade with unwavering resolve.
And struck.
His blade shook Dracula’s defense.
Crack!
A follow-up strike from the flank created an opening.
Then came the third and fourth attacks in rapid succession—a blur of consecutive slashes.
Wolf Swordsmanship. Second Form.
Claw Of The Moonlight.
The essence of Claw Of The Moonlight lay in ‘flow’.
A graceful cascade of continuous cuts, each seamlessly connected without the slightest gap, each moment flowing without rigidity.
And Kai had learned.
Adrian’s movements, flowing like water itself.
Yet Adrian pursued a flow of the unconscious—a realm beyond even conscious thought.
Muryū.
He added that here.
Wolf Swordsmanship. Second Form – Advanced.
Monnlit Driftfang.
His body moved before his thoughts could catch up.
Without his blade commanding it, his form already understood where it would go.
Everything flowed as naturally as water.
Within that flow, Dracula’s body crumbled once more, unaware he had even been cut.
Blood sprayed forth!
His wounds regenerated, yet his consciousness fractured.
No matter how he tried to respond… it was futile.
‘How… how is this possible…?’
Dracula too was a swordsman of considerable skill.
Five hundred years ago, he had been the Son of Dragons, the Lord of Blood, a war hero who dominated The Continent.
He had mastered every human swordsmanship technique.
But Kai’s blade was different.
It transcended entirely the very concept of swordsmanship Dracula knew.
Had swordsmanship truly advanced this far in five centuries?
It made no sense.
It should make no sense.
It shouldn’t even be possible to say that.
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaa─!!”
A piercing scream tore from my throat.
The emotion within it was not rage.
Disbelief and despair.
Kai’s blade drove into Dracula once more.
A technique that mimicked the moment a wolf pounces upon its prey with lethal swiftness.
A swordsmanship that pierced through the enemy’s defenses with rapid, devastating thrusts, delivering fatal blows.
Wolf Swordsmanship. Third Form.
Crimson Moon Strike.
The essence of Crimson Moon Strike was ‘speed’.
A velocity that permitted no reaction, rendering the enemy’s defense meaningless, piercing along an unpredictable trajectory.
And Kai had learned.
Adrian’s gale-like slash that pierced through the sound barrier.
Yet Adrian pursued lightning-fast, extreme velocity.
Ultimate speed.
Adding that here.
Wolf Swordsmanship. Third Form – Bloom.
Crimson Thunder Burst.
Kai’s blade erupted like lightning.
My body shot forward in a violent explosion of movement.
The ground beneath my feet shattered, sending fragments flying.
Instantaneous acceleration.
Instantaneous collision.
In the moment when ultimate speed—beyond even perception—pierced through Dracula.
Thunder erupted from the blade’s tip, accompanied by a shockwave that tore Dracula asunder.
Crack! Crackle!!
Lightning burst forth as Dracula was hurled backward.
Dracula barely managed to regain his footing.
And this time.
‘…I responded.’
Dracula twisted his trajectory instantaneously against Kai’s thrust, creating an opening for a counterattack.
And that was the result before me.
“Haa…! Haa…!”
Kai gasped for breath, blood streaming from his wounds.
‘The swordsmanship is still incomplete.’
The refinement of the technique was inconsistent.
There was something forced about the movements, as if mimicking rather than mastering.
‘The knowledge is complete, but understanding has not yet reached that level.’
…And yet I acknowledge it.
Kai is stronger than the Dracula of five hundred years past.
My talent as a knight. My instinct with the blade.
In every way, I surpass Dracula by a vast margin.
But that is where it ends.
I am a mortal being.
If my limbs are severed, I cannot wield a sword.
If my heart and brain are destroyed, I die.
In the end, I have not shed the skin of humanity—??
Thump-thump-thump!
The sudden sound shattered Dracula’s thoughts.
The fragments of Kai’s flesh that had burst apart.
They surged back to life and clung to Kai’s body.
Seeking their rightful places, they restored his form in an instant.
This was no mere recovery.
The immortal power of Dracula himself.
Yet not bound to the Vampire Queen’s authority.
“…!!!”
Dracula’s entire body bristled with dread.
‘He is shedding the skin of humanity of his own volition?’
A chilling tremor raced down his spine.
Of course, it was not yet complete.
Kai was still human now.
But he was unmistakably tearing through the skin of his humanity himself.
And that was….
Not mere growth.
Not evolution either.
To be born human and become something other than human.
That is ‘transcendence’.
To disregard the framework of one’s species as ordained at the beginning of time, and to rewrite one’s destiny with one’s own hands—that is tantamount to stepping into the realm of creation itself.
And such a being would inevitably, one day.
Become something this world itself could not control.
In other words, the moment Kai completely tears through the skin of his humanity.
A being equal to the Vampire Queen would be born.
“You wretch…!!”
He must be killed.
He must be slain here and now.
Kai could not be allowed to reach that point.
Dracula clenched his teeth.
He stretched both arms and drew forth every ounce of power he possessed.
But.
The pain and emptiness he felt in his arms now.
So utterly unfamiliar.
Dracula slowly lowered his gaze.
…His arm had been severed.
“Why is this?”
Dracula drew upon the power of immortality.
In that instant.
A cerulean magic circle enveloped Dracula.
An incomprehensible force pressed down upon him.
Blood surged backward through his veins.
A sensation of his very soul twisting.
“This is….”
The world’s power.
The laws of this world, which forbade the existence of the immortal, were stripping away the immortal authority that dwelled within Dracula.

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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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