The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 289

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 289. The Dragon (2)
The possibility that a Dragon was sealed within Feractrum.
Honestly, it was difficult to believe.
A Dragon was not something the Dwarves could seal away.
Therefore, if it had appeared in Feractrum, both Feractrum and the Dwarves should have been annihilated at that time.
But.
The puzzle pieces in my mind began to fit together, one by one.
Rielin’s intuition.
And the memories of my past life.
The two aligned simultaneously, creating a single possibility.
After Feractrum’s fall in my previous life.
The Death Lord began its full-scale activities.
In an instant, the Continent was drenched in death.
Nature lost its cycle, and life withered away.
An Extinction Event.
Before that catastrophe, Rielin bloomed with new life.
But it was insufficient.
At that time, Rielin was in a weakened state.
Though she could recover her strength through the Death Lord, the power the Death Lord possessed was formidable.
The Continent slowly became drenched in death.
And then, suddenly.
The Dragon began to rampage.
The reason was unknown.
The Dragon displayed overt hostility toward the Death Lord.
The Death Lord was death itself, and nature.
Therefore, all natural creatures in this world were powerless before the Death Lord.
But the Dragon was different.
The Dragon, no longer a creature of nature but as nature’s sovereign, drove the Death Lord into a corner.
The Death Lord and the Dragon.
Neither could gain victory.
And while the Death Lord fought the Dragon.
Rielin had completely recovered her strength.
Afterward, new life bloomed across the Continent.
As life began its cycle anew, the Death Lord retreated a step.
The Dragon seemed to retreat as well, but—
It began to rampage uncontrollably.
In other words, the Dragon had not been a threat only to the Death Lord.
It was equally an uncontrollable calamity to the Allied Forces.
That is, the Dragon sided with no one.
After all, it was merely a monster.
A dinosaur’s mutation.
A being where intellect and madness intertwined.
Ultimately, the Dragon met its end by Ian’s hand and vanished completely from history.
That much was.
‘The flow and memory from my previous life.’
And at that time, the reason the Dragon expressed hostility toward the Death Lord.
It was the death spread by the Death Lord.
Hundreds of millions of years ago.
It resembled the great extinction that had annihilated its own kind.
That memory was a survival trauma etched deep within the Dragon’s genetic code.
‘The Dragon had accepted that death with an instinctive rage—it could not allow such extinction to repeat.’
That was why.
I never bothered to investigate the reason the Dragon suddenly became active.
‘I naturally assumed the Death Lord had awakened the Dragon.’
More precisely, I thought the Dragon had reacted to the death spread by the Death Lord.
So I never thought to search for it.
I couldn’t have found it anyway, and even if I had, there was no way I could have hunted it.
But what if that wasn’t the case?
What if the Dragon had awakened for a different reason?
What if it merely coincided with the Death Lord spreading death?
More than that.
The reason the Dragon awakened.
The reason the Death Lord spread death.
What if these two events had a structure where they could only occur simultaneously?
There was only one possibility.
The Dwarf Kingdom.
Feractrum.
If the Dragon had been sleeping beneath it….
‘Every puzzle piece fits perfectly into place.’
As Feractrum fell, the conditions were created for the Death Lord to begin its full-scale activities.
At that same moment.
As Feractrum crumbled, the sleeping Dragon awakened.
From a single cause, two catastrophes emerged simultaneously.
In other words, there was a very high probability that the Dragon was truly sealed beneath Feractrum.
But sealing a Dragon is impossible with the power of the Dwarves alone.
Then.
Only one possibility remained.
‘Could it be Yggdrasil?’
Yggdrasil, the World Tree.
Feractrum was a kingdom built upon the roots of the World Tree.
What if Yggdrasil’s loss of power wasn’t simply because the Dwarves had forgotten the existence of spirits?
What if it had exhausted its own strength to protect the Dwarves from the Dragon?
Perhaps.
The reason the Dark Elves borrowed Yggdrasil’s power might have been because they were aware of the existence sleeping beneath it.
…Either way, it was difficult to believe easily.
But when all impossibilities are excluded, whatever possibility remains—no matter how unbelievable—must be the truth.
As if to reinforce my thoughts.
◆Evolution Quest, [All paths to supremacy ultimately lead through the Dragon], has arrived.
…A Quest materialized before my eyes.
Right then.
An alien pressure crushed down upon my entire body.
A sensation as though every blood vessel was freezing solid.
“…!!”
My body reacted before my consciousness could.
A chill raced down my spine.
Barbed killing intent pierced through me mercilessly.
Rielin must have felt it too—her pupils trembled for a moment.
“Just now—.”
Rielin’s voice cut off abruptly.
* * *
Crimson lava flowed like a river, cascading down the rocky walls.
Above it, black smoke and metal dust scattered through the air.
The flames of the lava rippled along the walls and ceiling like breathing.
This place, where an entire city resembled a colossal blacksmith’s forge.
The Dwarf Kingdom.
Feractrum.
At its center stood an enormous council chamber.
Supported by massive metal pillars that descended from the ceiling like roots, this chamber bore the name.
The Deepiron Council.
The heart where all decisions of the Dwarf Clan were made.
A colossal round table carved from black granite.
Around this table sat Dwarves with thick, muscular forearms.
“It has been determined that a Dragon sleeps beneath Feractrum.”
Broombar opened fire with his statement.
The chamber froze instantly.
“A Dragon…?”
“Is that true, Clan Chief?”
“It is.”
Broombar nodded his head.
And with a voice that carried not the slightest tremor or hesitation, he continued.
“The mana storms and mana-release earthquakes that have occurred recently—they were the signs.”
“Signs of what, exactly?”
“Signs that the Dragon is beginning to awaken.”
Every Dwarf in the chamber fell silent, their mouths clamped shut.
It was difficult to dismiss such words as falsehood when they came from Broombar himself.
A heavy silence descended upon the council hall.
Then, in that very moment.
“What is there to fear?!”
One Dwarf cried out.
“That overgrown lizard? One swing of a hammer and it’s done!”
The shout rang with unbridled confidence.
Other Dwarves rallied to that sentiment.
“That’s right! Who are we? We are the Dwarves who carve paths through mountains!”
“There’s no reason to fear a single lizard!”
The atmosphere in the council hall began to seethe with fervor.
The Dragon was certainly formidable.
But the Dwarves were formidable too.
The power to excavate mountains, to tame fire, to work metal—it had grown so formidable that even the Dragon could no longer dismiss it.
“This is our chance to forge the masterwork of a lifetime using the Dragon!”
Cheers erupted.
The Dragon.
It was a resource of immeasurable value in itself.
A Dragon’s heart is extracted as a mana core of the highest grade on The Continent.
The source of boundless energy.
To put it mildly, it could power the entirety of The Continent.
Its scales are the finest defensive material, absorbing all heat and impact.
Its bones and claws are harder than anything else and possess high mana affinity, making them ideal materials for legendary weapons.
“Let us forge a masterwork that will be etched into history!”
“Even better if there were two Dragons! Khahahaha!”
Greed and excitement filled the council hall.
Yet in that moment.
“Stop spouting nonsense.”
Broombar replied coldly.
The Dragon is the finest resource, you say?
That is true.
But that means, in other words.
“The Dragon is a monster that wields power potent enough to supply energy to The Continent in its entirety.”
It is covered from head to tail in scales—the finest defensive material that absorbs all heat and impact.
It possesses bones and claws that are harder than anything else and possess high mana affinity, making them materials for legendary weapons—and it bears them at all times.
Before such a formidable monster.
“Feractrum walked the path toward ruin.”
Yggdrasil.
Without her, the Dwarves would never have existed at all.
“Of course, we gained a new power—Arcane Engineering.”
Arcane Engineering.
A technology that merges magic and engineering.
Magic is grounded in logic.
Engineering is grounded in reality.
Arcane Engineering combines the two to manifest ‘concepts that defy reason’.
Therefore, it requires a force beyond reality itself.
Ether.
Through Ether, Arcane Engineering expands and recreates the boundaries of reality.
Mana-infused weapons, self-healing armor.
Arcane trains, power engines.
Reactive mana cannons, anti-gravity generators, and more.
What was impossible when magic and engineering stood apart became possible through Arcane Engineering.
Thus, the Dwarves no longer needed to rely on Yggdrasil to survive.
And so, thousands of years passed again.
The Dwarves developed that power with unwavering dedication.
“Through this, the Arcane Engineering our ancestors created—that we created—surpassed the greatness of old.”
But.
“The power the Dragon has accumulated spans hundreds of millions of years.”
Even the Dwarves’ entire history is nothing but infancy before the Dragon.
The history of any living being is nothing but infancy before the Dragon.
A being that survived even the great extinctions.
Moreover.
The supreme master of all things, who bent nature itself to its will.
“Our hammers create miracles, but the Dragon exists as a miracle itself.”
“….”
“How long do you think our greatness could truly endure before the Dragon?”
Arcane Engineering ultimately cannot transcend the limits of natural law.
Because in manifesting concepts that defy reason, it incurs the world’s resistance as its price.
For instance, halting time.
Creating space that does not exist.
Reversing entropy itself.
Any attempt to negate the very structure of the world is ultimately stopped by the world.
To fell a Dragon, one would need to embrace such a paradox.
A power that shatters the world’s structure.
Without such power, one cannot even scratch a single scale of the Dragon. And Arcane Engineering cannot manifest such power.
The air in the council chamber grew heavy.
Broombar’s eyes gleamed with sharp intensity.
“Do not grow overconfident in our strength. We are formidable, yes, but we are not omnipotent.”
A heavy silence descended upon the chamber.
After a moment, Broombar spoke again.
“Therefore, I shall request aid from Gwesuau.”
“….”
“Even if we must surrender every byproduct of the Dragon, we absolutely require Gwesuau’s strength.”
The council chamber stirred with unease.
“But Clan Chief!”
“To surrender all the Dragon’s byproducts—that would be—!”
“Do not misunderstand.”
Broombar cut them off with unwavering resolve.
“This is not a hunt.”
“….”
“It is survival. A test of whether our Arcane Engineering, the greatness we have forged, can endure.”
No one dared to object.
…He was right.
This was a matter upon which Feractrum’s very survival hung.
This was no time for greed or pride.
The council chamber fell silent.
Broombar opened his mouth once more.
“Fortunately, the Dragon has not yet awakened.”
“…How much time remains?”
“If the current signs persist—”
Broombar paused in thought before answering.
“Approximately two months before it opens its eyes.”
Two months.
Neither a long time nor a short one.
“First, we evacuate the children and the elderly. Send them all to Gwesuau’s Territory.”
“Will Gwesuau accept them?”
“He will. He is not one to abandon his word.”
Broombar spoke with absolute certainty.
The other Dwarves voiced no objections.
Adrian.
He was unmistakably different from other humans.
“The remaining craftsmen shall prepare for the Dragon.”
“….”
“All weapons are authorized for use. The armory is fully opened. We mobilize every resource at our disposal to defend our land.”
Broombar rose from his seat as he spoke.
“Feractrum has not fallen. And as long as I draw breath, it never shall.”
The Dwarves’ eyes blazed with fervent light.
A master of Arcane Engineering.
The greatest Blacksmith in the history of The Continent.
The conviction held within the name Broombar burned hotter than molten metal and stood firmer than tempered steel.
“Everyone, move!”
Broombar’s voice thundered across the chamber.
The Dwarves sprang into action with perfect synchronization, each fulfilling their appointed role.
Some rushed to compile evacuation lists.
Others bolted toward the Blacksmith’s Forge.
Still others sprinted to inspect the weapons.
And then.
It happened.
KRAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!
A deafening roar that shook heaven and earth.
The ceiling of Feractrum trembled violently.
Stone dust from the walls was swept up by the tremors, and the ceiling that had covered Feractrum shattered into countless fragments.
BOOM!!
With a thunderous crash, massive boulders collapsed—
SHRIEEEEK—!!
ROOOAAARRR—!!
Through the fissures of the collapsing ceiling, countless unidentifiable monsters poured down in a deluge.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————