The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 291
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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 291. The Assault (2)
Rielin burned with an inner heat.
A crimson flush spread from the tips of her ears across her entire body.
Her face flushed as deeply as a ripe rowan berry.
Her neck and collarbone were stained with a hue even deeper than scarlet seeds.
Human and Elves.
Different races, yet their genetic distance was not far.
Ain.
They could marry one another and produce offspring.
In other words, biological compatibility of reproductive organs.
To put it more bluntly, since sexual function aligned between them, it was hardly strange for an Elf to react to a human’s bare form.
Eventually, Rielin covered her face with both hands and lowered her head.
And I.
Quietly turned my body away.
‘Clothes really need to work out somehow.’
A fatal weakness of Dragon Burst: Rapid [E].
‘What if I made clothes from my own skin or hair?’
But Regeneration [B+] was an active skill.
Once it separated from my body, the effect wouldn’t activate.
‘Still, I should ask Iliana about this.’
Since she’d created regeneration potions, she might find a solution.
…Anyway.
I pulled clothes from my inventory and dressed.
Then I turned back around.
“Gwesuau…?”
“How is Gwesuau here?”
The Dwarves stared at me with wide, startled eyes.
Their bodies battered and bruised.
Yet they didn’t appear to be severely injured.
‘Fortunately, I wasn’t too late.’
It was worth the effort to arrive swiftly with Rielin.
I slowly surveyed the surroundings.
This entire area had become a literal wasteland from my recent use of Dragon Burst: Rapid [E].
But elsewhere was different.
All of Feractrum had already become a scene of utter chaos.
Shrieeeeeek─!!
Roooaaarrr─!!
Monsters pouring down in torrents.
Dwarven warriors desperately holding the line.
Just then.
A Quest notification materialized before my eyes.
◆Sudden Quest [Alas, who could have created such a horrific hybrid?] has begun.
A sudden Quest.
But there was no real need to examine its details.
Just moments ago.
When I activated Dragon Burst: Rapid [E], the notification that appeared had already revealed the answer.
◆You have defeated a Weredog!
◆You have defeated a Werelion!
◆You have defeated a Werepanther!
.
.
◆You have defeated a Wareowl!
◆You have defeated a Weresnake!
.
.
◆You have acquired 6,783,000 combat experience!
◆Your level has increased!
Werebeast.
Monsters born when bestial traits were grafted onto human genetics.
They were the same lineage as the creatures that had attacked the Whitewolf Territory before.
But there was one crucial difference from that time.
‘It seems they’ve been subjugated under a hive mind.’
The Hive Mind.
A structure where multiple individuals were connected beneath a single consciousness and moved as one.
When one ruler issued a command, the rest obeyed.
It was easiest to think of it like a swarm of bees or ants.
Each individual merely performed their designated role.
Thought and judgment fell to the superior entity.
As a result, the entire collective moved like a single living organism.
‘The Beast Legion.’
The Beast Legion.
The subject of the sudden Quest was the Beast Legion.
However.
‘The control doesn’t seem particularly strong?’
It was far too clumsy to be a perfect hive mind.
Compared to my previous life, it was absurdly loose.
Likely.
‘The destruction of all the core breeding chambers I caused last time must be the reason.’
The central nervous system required for control appeared to have been lost then.
As a result, the Beast Lord could no longer command a perfect hive mind.
‘This is going to be a real headache.’
Completing a hive consciousness was genuinely difficult and intricate work, after all.
In that sense, there existed a fundamental misunderstanding about the Beast Lord.
The misconception that the Beast Lord was intellectually inferior.
People assumed the Beast Lord was nothing more than a ‘Beast’ driven purely by instinct—
‘But that couldn’t be further from the truth.’
The Beast Lord possessed knowledge of bioengineering and molecular biology so profound that even Iliana would bow her head in deference.
Through this mastery, the Beast Lord could precisely decode the genetic sequences of virtually every living organism inhabiting the Continent.
As a result.
Any creature could be ‘designed’.
Evolution that would take tens of thousands of years in nature’s timeframe was realized in mere days.
Using that data as a foundation, it had incorporated itself into the design of evolution.
Irreducible complexity.
(Irreducible Complexity).
The Beast Lord was a life form that had infused itself with clear intent, selectively concentrating and designing the elements most advantageous for survival.
‘Such a Beast Lord….’
Whoosh. Swish.
‘Doesn’t seem to be present.’
There was a reason this was a sudden Quest rather than a Disaster Quest.
In that regard, the individual appearing to be the Beast Legion Commander also… didn’t seem to be present.
‘But they wouldn’t move with this level of coordination without a command structure, would they?’
I expanded my senses further.
And soon.
I could locate what appeared to be a command entity—a Werebeast.
ROOOOOOOOOOOAR—!!
A Werelephant.
A bioengineered weapon born from cross-fusing elephant genetics.
The most formidable frontline unit within the Beast Legion.
Of course, it wasn’t stronger than the Ogre.
But it was certainly powerful enough.
Therefore, the optimal strategy would have been to bring the mage battalion and unleash overwhelming firepower—
Broombar.
He alone was holding back the Werelephant.
“UUUUUUUUAAAAAHHHHH!!”
Broombar’s roar echoed across the battlefield.
With nothing but his fists and forearms, he was indiscriminately shattering, tearing, and absolutely demolishing the Werelephant’s hardened chitinous armor—it was absolute chaos.
Well, this was Broombar, who had held his ground against the Ogre face-to-face.
There was no way a mere Werelephant, not even the Beast Legion Commander, could possibly match him.
‘Broombar doesn’t seem to need any assistance.’
I turned my gaze elsewhere.
Feractrum lay in ruins.
Through the shattered defensive walls, the Beast Legion poured in like a flood.
The Dwarves fought back with desperate ferocity.
“These creatures… they’re endless!”
“We’re being surrounded! Tighten the lines!!”
The situation looked dire.
Without hesitation, I hurled myself forward.
I crushed the rat, scorpion, and turtle at the front in rapid succession.
There was no need to activate the Monomolecular Blade [S].
The Dragon’s Claws [A] proved more than sufficient.
My pure physical prowess alone overflowed with power.
Crash!
◆You have defeated Wererat!
◆You have defeated Werescorpion!
◆You have defeated Werturtle!
◆You have gained 198,000 combat experience!
The notifications blazed before my eyes.
I moved immediately.
I threw myself into the midst of the cascading Beast Legion—.
“Squeak?”
…Squeak?
My movements froze without my realizing it.
Around me.
“Squeak….”
“Screech….”
“Chirp….”
The Beast Legion hesitated.
They cowered, unable to rush forward recklessly.
It wasn’t quite fear directed at me… something felt off.
A Werewolf suddenly rolled onto its back, belly exposed.
A Werebunny pressed its ears flat and lay prone.
The Werecat rumbled softly and rolled onto its side.
“…?”
What was happening?
No, seriously—what was going on?
This wasn’t fear of me. It was as if they were submitting to me—.
“Ah.”
A thought flashed through my mind in that instant.
The Predator’s Instinct [S].
A skill I had obtained by devouring the Lycanthrope [S+].
Lycanthrope was the Beast Legion Commander.
A special entity to whom the Beast Lord directly granted a portion of his authority.
And my ability, Predation [S+], was not merely absorbing an individual’s power.
The background behind acquiring such an ability.
It was absorbing the ‘entire genetic information’ of why that entity possessed such power in the first place.
Therefore, within me lay the complete genetic information obtained from devouring Lycanthrope through Predation [S+], along with the very authority possessed by the Beast Lord.
And unlike the situation in Whitewolf Territory back then.
The werebeast subordinates now enslaved to the hive consciousness.
They seem to perceive me differently.
“Huff… huff…!”
“Kiii-ing.”
“Grrr….”
It appears they sense me as the Beast Lord himself.
* * *
Crooooooooooooaaar!!
A massive elephant-like monster bellowed ferociously.
Its ponderous body, heavy as a boulder heap, charged in a straight line toward Broombar.
But Broombar did not retreat.
If he fell back now, the defensive barrier would be breached once more.
The sacrifices of the Dwarves would only multiply.
“Uuuaaaaaaah!!”
Broombar roared fiercely, driving his legs deeper into the ground.
His muscles swelled enormously as he lowered his stance.
Just as the elephant monster kicked off the earth and descended upon Broombar, in that instant—
Crwark?!
The elephant monster suddenly sprang upward.
Its massive body twisted grotesquely in mid-air before crashing down with a thud!
No, rather—whoooosh!
It tumbled to the ground.
“…?”
Broombar’s head tilted involuntarily.
Then the elephant monster lurched to its feet!
With movements that seemed utterly impossible for such a massive frame—whoosh!
No, crack! Bang bang!
It bolted frantically in some direction.
“…???”
Broombar’s head twisted in bewilderment.
And it was not only the elephant monster.
Countless beasts that had poured into Feractrum were converging toward a single location.
“What…?”
Broombar’s gaze shifted to one side.
And then.
I found myself unable to close my mouth at the sight before me—something I had never witnessed in my entire life.
Monsters arranged with an eerie precision.
Like fresh recruits standing at rigid attention, the monsters were lined up in perfect formation!
“What?!”
Broombar’s eyes widened in shock.
In that moment.
A familiar voice reached my ears.
“Everyone, straighten your lines.”
Broombar’s gaze snapped toward the sound.
Standing there was a human with black hair and crimson eyes.
“Gwesuau?”
Adrian.
He stood towering before the Beast Legion.
Rather than wondering “Why is Adrian here?” Broombar’s mind first grasped at “What did he just say?”
Because he had said “straighten your lines”?
To whom?
Surely not to those monsters over there?
“What in the—”
Screech.
Tap, tap—the monsters nudged each other with their front limbs and shifted into position?
“What?!”
Broombar’s eyes widened once more in disbelief.
It wasn’t just Broombar.
All the Dwarves stood frozen with their eyes wide open.
“What, what?!”
“What what what?!?”
Reactions as if their capacity for language had malfunctioned.
All that could be heard from every direction was nothing but “What?! What?! How?!” and similar exclamations.
Whether Adrian noticed or not.
“Align left and right.”
Adrian issued another command.
In an instant, the monsters spread into formation.
Rabbits, dogs, scorpions, bats, and more.
Monsters of every conceivable type arranged themselves with perfect geometric precision.
“What?!”
“What?!”
“How?!?”
The Dwarves’ linguistic faculties had once again suffered a complete breakdown.
The Beast Legion now stood arrayed in perfect formation, blades gleaming.
Adrian spoke next.
“Forward ranks—roar barrage for ten seconds.”
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa─!!!
A tremendous cry erupted forth.
…No, a roar.
All of Feractrum resonated with the deafening sound.
“What?!”
“What in—?!”
“What?!?”
This time, the Dwarves’ cognitive faculties shattered along with 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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