The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 262

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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 262. Transcendence (1)
Hazy darkness.
It felt as though I existed within a darkness where all sensation had been erased.
My body seemed to have vanished.
My thoughts grew increasingly faint.
In the silence where even time ceased to flow, a dim consciousness—Kai’s consciousness—surfaced.
Then, very slowly.
Something drew my consciousness forward.
Following that pull, my eyelids opened.
Heavy lids rising with effort.
Yet my focus remained blurred.
But the ceiling visible through the haze was not unfamiliar.
‘Where is this….’
Where am I?
Somehow, the surrounding environment felt profoundly strange.
Emerald-hued tree trunks.
Above all, branches that pierced through the ceiling and hung abundantly with enormous verdant leaves at their ends.
It was as though I had stepped into the interior of a colossal tree.
‘This place is….’
Where exactly am I?
One thing was certain.
This was not Whitewolf Territory 2, where my memory had last fractured.
I carefully pushed myself upright.
In that moment.
“You’re awake?”
A voice reached my ears.
Turning my head, a man stood before me.
Black hair.
Crimson eyes.
“…Adrian?”
“Your memory is intact, at least.”
Adrian nodded and approached.
Those crimson eyes held their usual composure and sharpness.
I pushed myself up further and asked.
“What happened to Seraphia? Is she alright?”
Adrian let out a hollow laugh.
In his gaze, which seemed exasperated, lay the unmistakable sentiment: ‘Of course you’d ask that.’
Adrian shook his head once, then spoke.
“Seraphia has not yet awakened.”
From those words alone, I could discern several truths.
First, I had protected Seraphia from the Immortal Queen.
Second, Seraphia’s condition was dire due to excessive use of her powers.
Kai’s expression hardened.
His fist clenched silently, turning white from the force he exerted.
Based on my past experiences, I could tell that Seraphia had fallen into a deep coma.
Pain coursed through my entire body.
But the despair welling up from deep within my heart hurt far more.
In that moment.
Adrian spoke.
“Don’t worry. There’s nothing for you to be concerned about.”
Adrian’s gaze fixed upon Kai.
This time, it carried pure exasperation—as if to say, ‘How is it that you haven’t changed one bit?’
“…Is that truly so?”
Disbelief flickered across Kai’s eyes.
Seraphia, who had stood against the Immortal Queen.
There was no way her body and mind could be unscathed.
The power she had wielded then was a force manifested by shaving away her very existence.
“Look around you.”
Adrian’s voice came suddenly.
Kai glanced around.
The landscape resembled the interior of a colossal tree.
“I was puzzled about this earlier as well….”
Kai turned his gaze back to Adrian and asked.
“Where are we?”
“Bon County.”
“…?”
“More precisely, within the World Tree itself. At the heart of Yggdrasil.”
“…??”
Questions bloomed naturally in Kai’s eyes.
The World Tree?
Yggdrasil?
“…???”
My cognitive faculties couldn’t keep pace.
It seemed my brain had developed a serious problem.
Fortunately(?), Adrian added further explanation.
“Simply put, it’s a tree that holds life.”
“…????”
“It accelerates the cycle of life, maximizes all vital functions, and restores the natural order… well, roughly that sort of tree.”
“…?????”
“The details are complicated, so just accept it as is.”
I had no idea what he was talking about.
Nothing made sense.
“In any case, Seraphia is recovering, so there’s nothing to worry about.”
Adrian dismissed the concern with a wave.
At the same moment, Kai’s distrust evaporated.
The warmth tickling my skin right now.
I could tell it wasn’t ordinary power.
More than anything, the fact that Adrian spoke with such certainty meant it was truth, not mere consolation.
“…I understand.”
Kai nodded with effort.
I exhaled a breath of relief and steadied both body and mind.
Only then could I see it properly.
Adrian.
Something about him had changed.
Adrian had been missing for approximately four months.
It wasn’t a short time.
But it wasn’t long enough for a person to transform entirely.
Yet he had changed.
It was as if he had become a different being altogether.
And with that, Kai felt the same crushing pressure as if standing before the Immortal Queen herself.
…No, that wasn’t quite it either.
They say you see as much as you know.
Kai had transcended the Master realm.
Things that were invisible before now came into focus.
And what I perceived from Adrian now was….
A ferocious killing intent that seemed to devour the entire world.
A chilling, suffocating pressure that asphyxiated everything merely by existing.
This was a presence that could even suppress the Immortal Queen.
Though I felt it only for a brief moment, Kai was utterly overwhelmed by Adrian.
Kai bit my lip.
I had honestly thought the gap had narrowed.
But I was wrong.
As much as Kai closed the distance, Adrian had somehow pulled further ahead.
No matter how desperately I struggled, no matter how hard I tried.
I could not catch up to Adrian.
Yet it was strange.
Somehow, I felt good about it.
I was admitting to myself that Adrian was utterly beyond my reach.
And yet I felt no jealousy or sense of defeat.
Proof that there existed something beyond.
The possibility of advancing further from this very moment.
And Adrian, embodying that possibility through his own existence.
If I set Adrian as my goal, I could become the strongest knight someday—that certainty gave Kai a peculiar sense of stability.
Kai gazed at Adrian.
Adrian gazed back at Kai.
As if recognizing how much the other had changed, both their mouths opened simultaneously.
“What happened to you?”
“What happened to you?”
Their eyes met once more.
A brief silence followed.
Adrian spoke first.
“Something complicated happened. Simply put, I was trapped somewhere.”
“You mean you were imprisoned by someone?”
“I was imprisoned, that much is true. But whether someone’s intention was involved—I don’t know.”
“…?”
“Whether I was imprisoned by someone, where that place was—I know nothing of it.”
Kai pressed no further.
If even Adrian couldn’t escape from such a place, no matter how much he explained, Kai would never comprehend it.
Another silence drifted between them.
This time, Adrian spoke first.
“What happened to you?”
Kai drew a breath and recalled the battle with The Queen.
* * *
Kai’s account stretched on at considerable length.
Yet the essence was simple.
It differed little from Rielin and Broombar’s testimonies before.
And it aligned with my expectations.
‘It was The Immortal Lord.’
The Calamity Quest, [The Lords of the Undying], was orchestrated by The Immortal Lord.
The Immortal Lord.
One of the six existences The Emperor would grant ‘recognition’ to, rather than breeding and slaughter.
The Immortal Lord was, quite literally, an immortal being.
But not merely an immortal existence.
That is, I could not simply describe it as an undying entity.
To be precise, The Immortal Lord was an existence for which ‘annihilation is impossible.’
On this matter, Ian had said:
-The Immortal Lord has completely fused with the dimension of the Other Dimension, becoming part of that realm itself. Now The Immortal Lord is essentially the dimension of the Other Dimension.
That is why The Immortal Lord does not die.
It does not perish.
Because its very existence is a ‘dimension.’
Still, Ian said there was one way to annihilate the Immortal Lord.
-Erase the entire dimension of the Other Dimension.
The Other Dimension where the Immortal Lord resides.
To enter that place directly and incinerate the entire dimension.
But that was an impossible task.
First, incinerating an entire dimension required power beyond imagination.
A gravitational collapse on the level of a black hole?
Not even close.
Literally incinerating an entire dimension would require enough power to obliterate this entire universe.
‘Does that even make sense?’
It was a power that couldn’t exist even in imagination.
Even if that were possible.
Still, the greatest obstacle remained.
-Within the dimension of the Other Dimension, the Immortal Lord is no different from an absolute god.
Ian had entered Valley of Kardun directly and sealed the Death Lord.
Yet Ian couldn’t even muster the courage to enter the Other Dimension where the Immortal Lord resides.
Even Ian couldn’t defeat the Immortal Lord within that dimension.
Though he might be able to strike her down through force, without incinerating the dimension itself, the Immortal Lord would endlessly resurrect.
-I cannot kill the Immortal Lord.
In the end, Ian could not kill the Immortal Lord.
If Ian couldn’t do it?
Then no one could accomplish such a task.
I was no different at present.
Therefore, no one could kill the Immortal Lord.
In that sense, we should have all perished.
The heroes of the Allied Forces?
Even with all four of them attacking together, it wouldn’t work.
Seraphia?
If it were the Frost Lord, perhaps.
But at present, it was difficult.
Only Ian could contend with such a lord of another level.
It wouldn’t have been strange if we were all annihilated.
The reason we could still drive back the Immortal Lord.
It was thanks to Kai standing before me.
Upon activating Predator’s Instinct [S], Kai’s information surfaced before my eyes once more.
==【Character Information】==
Name: Kai
Classification: Mammal, Primate, Immortal Being
Gender: Male
Age: 23
Characteristics: Absolute Immortality [T], Adopted Muscle Memory [A-].
First of all.
My biological classification had changed.
From Animalia, Mammalia, Homo sapiens to Immortal Being.
I was no longer human.
But I wasn’t a Lich either.
I had blood and flesh.
I breathed and my heart beat.
I wasn’t a living corpse—I had simply become an existence that rejected death itself.
The reason this was possible was Absolute Immortality [T].
It was the awakened form of Dependent Immortality [E].
◆Absolute Immortality [T]
: The user’s body and mind achieve [Absolute Immortality].
All wounds and injuries can no longer harm the user, and even the mind and soul are perfectly severed from external interference.
This ability cannot be nullified, removed, sealed, or replaced by any means whatsoever, but it disappears if the user denies their own mission or loses the significance of their existence’s purpose.
For a moment, I was left speechless.
The rank was [T].
It meant Transcendence.
It was a rank even higher than Mythic [M].
But it was still below Primordial [P].
This meant the power balance was defined as: Legend [L] < Mythic [M] < Transcendence [T] < Primordial [P].
It made sense now why I had been given Law Negation [M] as a linked skill.
'Is this guy insane?'
Of course, Kai was undoubtedly the most insane person I'd ever met.
The craziest of the crazy.
The top of the insane.
But even if you're obsessed with Seraphia, there should be limits to your obsession.
He burned away his very existence and transcended the human species itself?
Where in this world does such a madman exist?
With this, Kai had surpassed the Frost Lord.
In his previous life, Kai was undead.
In other words, he became a Lich and rejected death.
But now it was different.
He didn't reject death—he 'erased' it.
So it wasn't 'immortality'.
Absolute Immortality [T].
An 'eternity' that transcended the very concept of death.
Therefore, Kai's existence could never be annihilated by any means.
Even if his aura was depleted?
He would not die.
Because their very existence is fixed in immortality.
But that doesn't mean they can enjoy eternal life.
If they deny their own mission.
Or lose the significance of their existence's purpose, complete immortality collapses instantly.
In other words, if Seraphia dies, Kai will perish alongside her.
And since Seraphia's lifespan is finite, Kai's immortality is equally finite.
To put it another way.
Kai—this madman lives for the sole purpose of dying together with Seraphia.
'Isn't this just liking Seraphia?'
It goes far beyond mere liking.
I had to call it 'love' for Seraphia.
There's no other explanation for it.
Or should I be honest?
Even love doesn't explain it.
The emotion of loving someone doesn't spiral into such irrational and self-destructive ways.
Hell, even religious faith doesn't work like this.
Fanatical belief in a god?
Of course, it does show self-destructive tendencies.
But it doesn't grind away existence, burn away will, and ultimately display such transcendent obsession that surpasses the species itself.
'This guy is truly.'
An even greater madman than Mungu.
It's no wonder the world submitted to him.
Actually, from my perspective.
'The world didn't really submit at all.'
When Kai deployed his Mental Embodiment.
The world must have thought, "Wow! This madman is vicious, absolutely vicious!!" and recoiled in horror.
So it knelt down.
Because it didn't want to face this madman any longer.
In that sense, Kai and I.
How our relationship ended up the way it did is quite something.
'I can't comprehend it.'
If I understand a madman, does that make me a madman too?
The Continent's greatest madman, Kai.
But on the other hand, how should I put it.
'It's incredibly reassuring.'
Having the Continent's greatest madman as an ally now was extraordinarily reassuring.
'I could march into The Empire right now without any issues.'
With Yggdrasil in hand, there was nothing to fear.
Now I could even stop a Lord without myself.
And I had actually proven it.
In that sense.
"What happened to the Immortal Lord—no, the Vampire Queen?"
"With Iliana's assistance, we banished her back to the Other Dimension."
"Well done."
It was the best we could manage.
If we had pushed recklessly to annihilate her instead of merely banishing her?
'We would all be dead.'
Kai had clearly crossed a threshold.
But not enough to overwhelm a Lord.
Was Kai a newly born Lord?
The phrasing was somewhat absurd, but it was accurate.
Above all, Kai's combat prowess ultimately rested upon swordsmanship.
Perfect Immortality merely prevented death.
It had nothing to do with direct combat strength.
But the Immortal Lord had accumulated a completeness befitting the rank of Lord across eons of time.
If the battle had continued?
Kai would have certainly lost.
'Iliana truly excelled.'
She was indeed the Sage of Truth.
And since the topic had come up anyway.
'I should visit Iliana.'
I heard she had awakened together with me.
Besides, I had many questions to ask her.
"Rest now then."
I turned to leave immediately.
That instant.
"Adrian."
Kai called out to me.
Turning back, Kai was looking at me.
It seemed he had something to say.
But as time passed, Kai remained silent.
"If you have nothing to say, I'm leaving."
The moment I turned my back.
"About that time, sir."
Kai's voice reached me again.
I hadn't turned around yet.
But the weight of his gaze pressed against my back.
Turning slowly, Kai was gazing at me intently.
"…That time?"
"When we were young, sir."
Kai's gaze grew heavy and distant.

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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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