The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 292

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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 292. Misunderstanding and Delusion
KWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH—!!!
The roars of the Beast Legion filling Feractrum.
…No, rather—a collective roar.
The unified roar of a legion-scale force of Demonic Beasts resonated through to the bone.
That deafening cry sustained for a full ten seconds—
…No, the roar continued to reverberate through the Cave’s echoes, spreading outward.
And with that, every Dwarf’s jaw fell slack.
All of them wore expressions of utter bewilderment and vacant shock.
Demonic Beasts.
Creatures no different from monsters.
Living beings that moved solely by instinct and pursued destruction.
They possessed no intelligence.
Not even the slightest semblance of reason existed within them.
So what in the world was happening now…??
The malfunctioning Dwarves finally ceased to function altogether.
Cognitive ability denied comprehension.
Linguistic ability denied response.
“What…?!”
“What the…?!”
“…What in blazes?!?”
The Dwarves lost their capacity to function as sentient beings.
And no wonder, just look at this!!
“Use the Wereelephant as reference.”
Croak!
“Align in two rows, spacing matched to the tusk width.”
In an instant, the Demonic Beasts moved.
Spaced with precision matching the Wereelephant’s massive tusk width.
Legion-scale Demonic Beasts straightened their bodies and formed ranks in perfect unison.
Then Adrian issued another command.
“Now we execute five rolling drills in cadence. However, the final count will be omitted.”
At that, the Demonic Beasts struck the ground in unison with their front limbs, shaking the earth.
Thud! Boom!
Thud! Crack!
Thud! Rumble!
Thud! Roar!
Thud! …!
Silence fell as the final count was omitted.
But then—
Thud! Snap! Howl!
A group of beasts fell out of rhythm.
The chicken-like beasts.
Adrian’s eyes gleamed as he gestured with his hand.
“Werecock, step forward.”
“….”
“All of you, belly down and begin crawling.”
The moment the words left his lips, the Werecock immediately dropped to their bellies and began crawling.
Kee-kook….
Kwee-wok….
Kkoh-kkoh….
“And Wear Elephant, step forward.”
Kwoah!
“Don’t you teach your children properly?”
Kuh, kuh-wok…!
“You too, belly down and begin crawling.”
The hesitant Wear Elephant lowered its head and awkwardly dropped to its belly, beginning to crawl.
Thump… thump… scrape.
Its massive body dragged across the earth as it crawled forward.
Adrian watched for a moment before speaking.
“From now on, keep your wits about you.”
Nod.
Nod nod.
“I want to hear you acknowledge that!”
Kkoh-kee-ok!!
Kkoh-kkoh-kkoh!!
Kwoah-uck!!
“Good, everyone return to your positions.”
Kkoh-kee-ok!!
Kkoh-kkoh-kkoh!!
Kwoah-uck!!
Rumble rumble rumble.
The Werecock and Wear Elephant returned to their original positions with perfect unity.
“What?!”
“What did you say?!”
“What in the—?!”
This made absolutely no sense!!
* * *
The Beast Legion.
Werebeast subordinated to the hive consciousness.
Once integrated into the hive consciousness, individual emotions and free will are stripped away.
They were designed to obey their superiors unconditionally, and those commands were absolute.
This was how the beasts, which would normally tear into each other, could be perfectly controlled.
Iliana spoke up then.
-Obedience embedded like instinct… I’ve never seen an organism function with such precision. The efficiency alone is remarkable, but the structure itself is revolutionary!
She clicked her tongue in genuine admiration.
The pinnacle of bioengineering.
But there was a fatal weakness.
First, if something went wrong with the apex entity of the hive mind, the problem would instantly spread throughout the entire Beast Legion.
Second, anyone who could become the apex entity of the hive mind could seize control of the Beast Legion.
And so, the werebeast creatures, mistaking me for the Beast Lord(?), obeyed.
“Huff, huff…!”
“Kiiing.”
“Grrrrr….”
Every single one of them was bowing to me.
But honestly?
‘This actually works.’
I was shocked myself.
Or rather, I didn’t know.
In my past life, I’d never even devoured a legion commander, let alone the Beast Lord.
Predator’s Instinct [S]?
Of course I didn’t have it.
To me, the Beast Legion had always been nothing but monsters more vicious and savage than any other.
But now?
“Huff, huff!”
“Kiiing.”
“Grrr.”
They were simply pets.
The werebeast creatures displayed an attitude that transcended obedience, bordering on affection.
It was, quite literally, the relationship between master and beloved pet.
◆Sudden Quest [Alas, who could have created such a terrible hybrid?!] has been cleared!!
The Quest was complete.
Which made sense, since the Quest objective was….
‘What was it again?’
I’d forgotten in the chaos of the moment.
Stop the Beast Legion?
Something like that, I thought.
◆What in the world is happening here?!?!?!
Mungu’s frantic voice suddenly filled my vision.
It had been a while since such a panicked outburst.
Probably because there were no Quests in The Empire, so there was nothing to panic about—.
◆These furry beasts calling you “Master♥”!!
…That never happened.
When did they ever say something like that?
Beasts don’t communicate through language in the first place.
Will and sensation.
That’s all there is—the transmission of instinct alone.
◆How did you manage it?!
It never happened, I said.
◆Was it magic?!
◆But you can’t use magic!!
You know well.
◆Then was it pheromones?!
◆Or perhaps an enchanting charm?
◆Suspicious gestures? A piercing gaze?
None of it.
Hive consciousness born from the predator’s instinct[S].
To be precise, it’s merely the manifestation of the Beast Lord genetic factor within me.
◆If it’s not that, then could it be…!!!
But Mungu—he paid no attention whatsoever.
Despite being able to read my thoughts, he didn’t even bother listening.
He was too busy making a fuss over nothing—
◆So you had such tastes all along!!!
…Just a madman.
Desperate not to fall behind Kai, he’d begun losing his mind entirely.
◆No wonder!
◆You couldn’t even manage a proper kiss like an adult!!
◆And no wonder!
◆Your inventory is suspiciously overflowing with money!!
…This guy really.
I couldn’t even fathom how much further he intended to spiral.
‘How does he even know about the money in my inventory?’
In any case, Mungu’s mechanism remained utterly incomprehensible to me.
…Regardless.
I’d managed to clear the sudden Quest.
It could have resulted in significant damage if I’d made a single misstep.
Fortunately, I cleared it without any notable casualties. And the reward for the sudden Quest was quite substantial too….
‘What was the reward again?’
Damn, I’d forgotten because of Mungu’s theatrics.
The silver lining was that I hadn’t forgotten so badly as to let the reward slip away unpaid.
◆You’ve obtained 85,520,000 Quest Experience Points!
In an instant, a message flashed before my eyes.
It was an experience notification totaling a staggering 85 million.
Even accounting for the five-fold amplification from the title “Overlord of the Desolate Wastes,” it was still an enormous amount of experience.
‘Ah, that’s right. It was a massive experience reward.’
I could recall that the clear bonus had indeed been a substantial experience payout.
Soon after, level-up notifications flooded my vision.
◆Your level has increased! x11
+11 levels gained.
It had taken roughly 8 million experience points to raise a single level.
The required experience for each level-up was growing grotesquely larger.
‘Eventually, a single level-up might demand experience in the hundreds of millions.’
I wondered if that was truly possible.
Yet based on the current trend, it hardly seemed surprising.
After all, my leveling speed had noticeably slowed compared to before.
In any case.
I invested all my newly acquired stat points into Mana.
The additional stat points totaled +55.
Thanks to the Transcendence Factor [EX], it was effectively equivalent to a +55 level increase.
As a result, my current Mana stat now stood at -436.8
My Anti-Mana value had reached -43,680.
Frankly, it was enough to immobilize Iliana for dozens of seconds.
‘Still, it feels somewhat lacking.’
The shortfall was real.
Compared to my Strength, Agility, and Vitality stats, my Mana was absurdly low.
In other words, using Anti-Mana to gain an advantage over the Beast Lord would be difficult.
I had sufficient power to create variables.
But to deliver a finishing blow?
It still fell short.
‘Mana can only be increased through leveling, after all.’
In many ways, it was disappointing.
But disappointing was all it was.
I possessed enough power to land a decisive strike or shake the situation itself.
The finishing blow could be compensated for with other abilities.
What mattered most was the opportunity to land that finishing blow.
And my current Anti-Mana could create such opportunities even against the Beast Lord.
‘Now I won’t fall behind even in a fight against the Beast Lord.’
Another Level.
I had definitively reached the same realm as the Beast Lords.
And I now stood at a position to surpass them.
None other than this evolution Quest.
==[All paths to supremacy ultimately lead through the Dragon]==
[Objective] – Devour the Dragon
[Reward] – Complete awakening of 【Primordial】 bloodline
[Failure] – No penalty
If I could only clear this Quest safely.
‘I could surpass them.’
I could be reborn as an existence that transcended even the Beast Lord.
And through that, I could reach it.
The apex of all living things.
The Ultimate Lifeform.
I could grasp the key to the final stage of evolution—one that would allow me to surpass even Ian.
* * *
After organizing my thoughts, I surveyed my surroundings.
And soon.
I found Broombar.
“Ugh, ugghhh!!”
…For some reason, Broombar was on the verge of fainting.
It wasn’t just Broombar.
The other Dwarves around him stood wide-eyed, unable to form words.
“What?!”
“What?!”
“What?!?”
More precisely, they had lost the ability to speak.
◆The admiration for the universally acknowledged Captain Fury is spreading across all of Dwarf society right now!!
Even in the midst of this, Mungu’s insane momentum was rising in real time.
Mungu, releasing all the pent-up excitement accumulated over time in one burst.
…Well, anyway.
I ignored the delirious Mungu and approached Broombar—.
“Waak!”
Broombar shrieked and leaped to his feet.
His muscles swelled all at once as he braced himself defensively.
For a moment, it seemed he had mistaken me not for the universally acknowledged Captain Fury, but for the Beast Lord.
“It’s me.”
Then Broombar blinked.
His face hardened, and he stood dazed for several seconds.
“…I, I’m sorry.”
Broombar apologized and relaxed his guard.
I wasn’t sure what he was apologizing for.
Anyway.
Broombar asked carefully.
“Why… are you in Feractrum?”
I answered naturally.
“It’s not anything else—the Arcanoheart is broken.”
“The Arcanoheart?”
“Yes. So I came to ask for repairs, but….”
I glanced around briefly before speaking again.
“It seems the situation has become like this.”
“Hmm.”
Broombar let out a short sigh.
“The repair itself isn’t difficult, but….”
Then Broombar also glanced around before speaking.
“Given the situation, immediate repairs seem impossible.”
Well, that was obvious.
The Arcanoheart was important, certainly.
But it wasn’t about to explode immediately, and asking for repairs when Feractrum had fallen into this state wasn’t something a sane person would do.
“Let’s resolve Feractrum’s problems first.”
Broombar looked at me.
Then he opened his mouth heavily.
“Feractrum’s problem is… not such a simple matter.”
I knew that.
But then again.
Broombar didn’t know.
He didn’t know that I was aware of Feractrum’s problem.
“Is it because of the Dragon?”
“How did you…??”
Broombar’s eyes widened.
His gaze toward me was filled with shock and confusion.
I spoke casually.
“Rielin told me.”
It wasn’t merely a convenient excuse.
Of course, I could be certain of the Dragon’s existence thanks to my memories from my past life and the evolution Quest.
But without Rielin’s intuition, I wouldn’t have even suspected it.
“…Rielin? Did that child come with you?”
Broombar asked.
I nodded and searched for Rielin.
With beauty that instantly drew attention among the Dwarves, I found her without difficulty.
“She’s over there.”
Following my gaze, Broombar’s eyes shifted as well.
An Elf with golden hair.
Despite the considerable distance, her beauty was striking and unmistakable.
Rielin sat collapsed on the floor.
Broombar strode toward her with heavy steps.
I followed in his wake.
As we drew closer, Rielin’s condition became unmistakably clear.
Her face was flushed a deep crimson.
The blush extended from her cheeks down her neck and across her collarbone, showing no signs of fading.
It seemed the shock of seeing my naked form still lingered within her.
The moment she noticed me, she flinched.
Her head snapped downward.
Even so, her slender, pale shoulders trembled visibly.
Her clothes, drenched in sweat, clung tightly to her body.
She seemed to lack all strength.
Like a newborn fawn, her legs quivered uncontrollably.
The impact of breaking through Mach speed still seemed to reverberate through her.
In that moment.
“…What did you do to her?”
Broombar’s voice cut like a blade.
The look in his eyes as he regarded me was—how should I describe it?
◆The expression of an older brother catching his sister’s boyfriend hiding in the closet?
…That was precisely the feeling.
* * *
Fortunately(?), I managed to clear up the misunderstanding somehow.
In truth, there wasn’t much of a misunderstanding to speak of.
I hadn’t been hiding in any closet.
And I certainly wasn’t Rielin’s boyfriend.
The situation itself was simply awkward.
In any case.
It didn’t matter.
What mattered now was what slumbered beneath Feractrum.
The Dragon.
The ancient sovereign of The Continent, having survived through hundreds of millions of years.
If I could devour [S+] its absolute genetic code—the very essence that even mass extinction could not sever—I would become the ultimate life form, the pinnacle of evolution itself.
“We must hunt the Dragon.”
I had to succeed in the Dragon hunt, no matter what.

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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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