The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 299

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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 299. Ultimate Species, T-Rex
Broombar and Rielin’s strategic pincer attack.
No, rather—a strategic combined assault.
It opened a perfect avenue of attack for me.
My claws crushed through T-Rex’s chest cavity.
Crrrunch!!
Tearing through the rigid exoskeleton like paper, I advanced relentlessly toward its core.
And yet.
Clang—!
A dull metallic sound suddenly erupted.
It was not merely the exoskeleton rupturing.
Something within T-Rex was blocking my claws.
I couldn’t discern what it was.
But whatever it was, it made no sense.
My claws were currently enhanced by the Single-Molecule Blade [S] effect.
The Single-Molecule Blade [S] ignores all defensive capabilities by severing molecular bonds—a perfect 100% armor penetration.
Even a Dragon’s scales.
Even the product of evolution honed across countless ages.
They were powerless before the Single-Molecule Blade [S].
In other words, it was an ability with no countermeasure whatsoever….
‘It blocked the Single-Molecule Blade?’
My eyes widened in shock.
Of course, there wasn’t truly no way to counter it.
The most obvious and simplest method.
Don’t let it touch you.
If contact itself is avoided, the molecular bonds cannot be severed.
That was how Blake’s weapon, Ahimsa, incorporated the concept of Extremity [M] to counter the Single-Molecule Blade [S].
But this was different.
‘…It’s making contact.’
I could feel it distinctly.
My claws were definitely piercing into T-Rex’s exoskeleton.
In other words, it wasn’t avoiding contact.
T-Rex’s body had genuinely blocked the Single-Molecule Blade [S].
‘How?’
My mind raced rapidly.
And soon.
I understood the reason.
‘It countered the very nature of the Single-Molecule Blade itself?’
The Single-Molecule Blade [S] severs the ‘bonding points’ between molecules.
It does not cut the molecules themselves.
While not entirely incorrect depending on the context, the Monomolecular Blade[S] functioned by severing the bonds between molecules.
The molecules themselves still existed.
Rather, when the bonds between molecules fractured, the structure collapsed and defensive power was negated entirely.
That was the principle behind the Monomolecular Blade[S].
So T-Rex reinforced those ‘bonding points’.
She elevated the cohesive force between molecules to an incomprehensible level.
In simpler terms, she allowed the Monomolecular Blade[S] to ‘make contact’ itself.
But she prevented that contact from translating into ‘severance’ of the bonding points.
‘How is that possible…?’
Yet even that made no sense.
Adaptation’s authority?
…No, absolutely not.
Adaptation only activates against concepts and principles that exist in this world.
Therefore, molecular-level adaptation cannot occur.
More precisely, the concepts of Limit[M] and Infinity[M].
Adaptation to these two concepts does not manifest.
Because one cannot design genetic blueprints for concepts that do not exist.
Yet it had activated.
T-Rex had adapted to the Monomolecular Blade[S].
And there is no law without phenomenon.
If a phenomenon contradicts existing theory, it does not mean the phenomenon is wrong—it suggests the existing theory is flawed.
I rapidly grasped the phenomenon.
And soon.
I found the answer.
‘…Is it mutation?’
Fafnir’s essence, Mutation[S+].
An ability capable of creating genetic factors that do not exist in nature.
As the Monomolecular Blade[S] dealt continuous damage, Mutation[S+] detected the threat and generated new genetic factors capable of countering it—.
“KYAAAAAAAAAAGH!!”
T-Rex roared.
She hurled Broombar, whom she had been gripping, away without care.
Then, as if flaunting her transformation and evolution, she twisted her upper body.
Crack-crack-crack—!!
The bio-spines extending along her spine split open and cascaded toward me.
I immediately retreated backward.
I countered the descending spines by wielding the Monomolecular Blade[S].
Crack! Crack-crack!
…This time, it worked.
The Monomolecular Blade[S] had not been blocked.
‘Is the adaptation slower to apply?’
Mutation [S+] had created a new genetic structure.
But Selection Pressure [S+] could not immediately adapt to it.
Selection Pressure, unlike Predation, does not evolve instantaneously.
Therefore, I could still deliver a fatal blow with the Single-Molecule Blade [S].
It could still be the decisive strike that severed T-Rex’s lifeline.
…For now, at least.
‘Time is running short.’
If T-Rex completed her redesign using the genetic structure created by Mutation [S+], the Single-Molecule Blade [S] would no longer work.
In the end, it was a race against time.
Would T-Rex’s Selection Pressure [S+] adapt to Mutation [S+] first?
Or would my Predation [S+] absorb Mutation [S+] first?
Survival of the fittest through adaptation?
Or the law of the jungle through consumption?
In the clash of these two laws, T-Rex spoke.
“It is not the strong that survive—it is those who survive that become strong.”
T-Rex roared and lunged at me.
* * *
Rielin stared at the scene before her with wide, stunned eyes.
T-Rex’s body twisted and transformed.
From her split maw, pitch-black fangs erupted.
Her forked tongue lashed about like a serpent’s.
Her exoskeleton cracked open and the muscle fibers twisted, reconstructing themselves. Her spine protruded outward like spikes, extending across her frame.
Her claws and talons were grotesquely enlarged, as if carved from bone itself.
A creature that seemed to embody primordial evil given form.
And then—whoosh!
T-Rex vanished.
At the same moment, Adrian vanished as well.
Boom!
With a deafening collision at the midpoint, the two beings clashed.
From that point of contact, a terrible force erupted, swirling and engulfing everything around them.
Crack, crack, crack, crack-boom!
Their muscles tore apart.
Their bones shattered.
And they regenerated, devouring each other’s very life force.
Rielin brought both hands together before her chest.
Given how things had escalated.
Support alone would not suffice.
Even if I could not deliver a fatal blow to T-Rex, I had to land at least a significant strike.
Splash—!
Emerald light erupted from her fingertips, gathered before her chest.
Harmony with nature. Resonance with life itself.
A force condensed from the very essence of nature—connected to the roots of all existence.
As Rielin stretched her hand forward, the spirits of nature responded.
Beneath T-Rex’s feet, spikes of earth erupted upward.
Simultaneously, blades of wind slashed down from behind, cleaving through her exoskeleton.
Whoosh!
Blazing flames engulfed T-Rex’s body.
The great natural world attacked T-Rex at Rielin’s command.
And yet.
T-Rex laughed as if it were all pathetic.
“Mere natural forces like this!!”
As T-Rex twisted her body, the flames scattered.
The wind vanished, and the earthen spikes crumbled helplessly.
“Do you think such things can touch me!!”
T-Rex’s massive foot trampled the ground.
Boom, boom, boom!
Chain explosions shook the very space around us.
Rielin’s vision blurred for a moment.
…My head throbbed as if it might split open.
The sovereign of all things who had subjugated nature itself.
The Dragon’s overwhelming pressure crushed down upon Rielin.
“Ugh…!”
Rielin’s body staggered.
As expected.
Rielin could not land a decisive blow against T-Rex.
Creating an opening was the best she could manage.
Still.
Adrian seized the gap Rielin had created and drove through it.
Flash!
A bolt of lightning-like brilliance pierced through T-Rex.
T-Rex’s body sprayed blood as she was hurled backward.
After tumbling across the ground several times, T-Rex staggered to her feet.
Her muscles trembled in convulsive spasms.
Her exoskeleton bore fine cracks, weeping crimson blood.
“Gah…!”
T-Rex gritted her teeth.
It was not a mortal wound.
Yet it was undeniably a solid hit.
No matter how formidable T-Rex was, she could not withstand Adrian’s attacks.
Even Rielin could see that much.
Adrian’s attack just now was on a different level entirely.
In other words, it was more than sufficient to lead T-Rex to certain death.
And yet.
T-Rex burst into laughter.
“Now I have no choice but to unleash my full power!!”
She had realized that Adrian was already exerting every ounce of his strength.
“You and I—let us determine who stands at the pinnacle of evolution!!”
T-Rex leaped skyward.
Boom!
The ground beneath her shattered, and she vanished from sight.
“Watch out!!”
Rielin cried out.
But Adrian had already moved before she could speak.
No—they had already collided.
Crash!!
Gravity twisted once more in the air.
The shockwave from the collision of two beings tore through space itself.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom—!!
A tempest that seemed to rend the world asunder came howling down.
In that instant.
Broombar moved like lightning to shield Rielin.
“Get behind me!!”
With that cry, Broombar’s muscles swelled enormously.
The shockwave that followed engulfed him.
The air was torn asunder.
The earth warped and buckled beneath the force.
Yet Broombar held firm.
“Grraaahhh!!”
Behind Broombar’s unyielding form.
Rielin remained unharmed.
The shockwave gradually lost its intensity.
At last, the final wave subsided.
Broombar dropped to one knee.
“Are you alright?”
“I’m… I’m fine…!”
Broombar gritted his teeth.
Rielin hurriedly examined his condition.
Upon closer inspection, one side of his ribcage was severely caved in.
Rielin summoned a water spirit.
Transparent ripples of water shimmered into being.
Broombar’s torn muscles and fractured ribs slowly knitted themselves back into place.
Broombar drew in ragged breaths. Then he cast his gaze forward.
Adrian and T-Rex.
The two beings were still locked in combat.
T-Rex’s tail whipped through the air like a scythe.
Whoooosh!
The tail tore through space itself.
The trajectory was predictable.
There was no finesse, yet overwhelming power and speed rendered all defenses meaningless.
Adrian twisted on one foot and dropped his upper body low.
By the narrowest margin, the tail swept past Adrian’s head.
Adrian prepared his counterattack.
In that instant.
T-Rex’s eyes flashed with brilliance.
Simultaneously, the mana in the space around them fluctuated.
Broombar’s eyes widened in shock.
‘…Magic?’
There was no doubt.
That shift in mana.
It was unmistakably the precursor to magic.
‘That creature is using magic?’
As if answering Broombar’s question, spacetime crumpled with a sickening crunch, like a tin can being crushed.
“Impossible!”
Broombar cried out.
He had never imagined T-Rex would be capable of wielding magic.
And for good reason—magic was a natural phenomenon born from interpreting the laws and principles that governed the world.
Therefore, it demanded considerable intelligence.
One needed the kind of higher-dimensional thinking capable of comprehending and interpreting such laws and principles.
But how could this alien creature possibly—?
And it wasn’t even simple magic.
Iliana.
T-Rex had wielded magic of such sophistication that it could rival hers.
‘How is this possible…?’
Broombar could not comprehend it.
…And at that very moment.
Broombar was shocked once more.
Crack—!!
A brilliant spark erupted in an instant.
And then the warped spacetime was instantaneously restored.
“What?!”
Broombar cried out before he could stop himself.
Because he knew what that was.
Anti-mana.
A power that erased, reversed, or negated mana.
In other words, Adrian’s power.
Adrian showed not a shred of confusion.
Not a moment’s hesitation.
As if he’d been waiting for it, Adrian swallowed T-Rex’s magic whole.
‘…He knew all along?’
That T-Rex could use magic?
T-Rex—an evolution specialized in mana.
Adrian—an evolution that repelled mana.
These two were alike yet stood at opposite poles of existence.
“What… what in the world is this….”
Both of them far transcended Broombar’s understanding.
* * *
T-Rex.
That is, I already knew the Beast Lord could use magic through my experience in my past life.
I simply hadn’t known back then that her true identity was a Dragon.
Dragons are commonly called the progenitors of magic.
Superior intellect and vast lifespans.
They understand and utilize the world’s laws and principles more deeply.
But that’s not it.
Dragons don’t use magic.
Magic is purely a power created by humans.
Therefore, Dragons don’t use mana.
Mana.
They manipulate it itself.
Because Dragons can handle that energy without refining mana.
That’s why the phenomena Dragons create resemble magic, but their power and structure are entirely different.
No formulas, no incantations, no chants.
Draconic.
A method akin to a form of word-of-command.
Word-of-command brought forth by ‘will’ rather than speech.
Truly a fearsome power, but the energy used is ultimately ‘mana’.
In other words, it could be neutralized by anti-mana.
And my current anti-mana level was sufficient to counter even the Beast Lord.
“A hidden trump card, or so I thought.”
T-Rex muttered through gritted teeth.
“This makes it pointless.”
Her voice was surprisingly composed.
No anger, no despair, no emptiness colored her tone.
It was merely a cold acknowledgment that one of several strategies had been rendered ineffective.
It made sense.
The method differed, but dragon speech recreated natural phenomena just as effectively.
Yet what manner of being was a Dragon?
The supreme ruler of all things, one who subjugated nature itself.
Dragon speech, which merely conjured natural phenomena, was nothing more than a utilitarian convenience.
Above all, dragon speech was not free.
Manipulating mana itself demanded vast reserves of energy.
Therefore, rather than expend energy on dragon speech,
channeling it into evolution via Selection Pressure [S+] proved far more efficient and potent.
The venom born from dragon speech was merely nature’s poison.
But the venom created by Selection Pressure [S+] transcended nature’s poison entirely.
T-Rex’s words moments ago had been precise.
A hidden trump card.
Nothing more than that.
In that sense.
‘Evolution is accelerating.’
T-Rex’s evolution was quickening.
Mutation [S+] was being reflected into Selection Pressure [S+].
Through this, the Monomolecular Blade [S] was rapidly being neutralized.
‘That’s not all.’
Mutation [S+] had not merely created genes to counter the Monomolecular Blade [S].
My attacks, my movements, my behavioral patterns—
combat genes capable of suppressing me in my berserk state under Hemolytic Torrent [L] and countering Rilselenium were being generated simultaneously.
In short, combat abilities of [A+] grade were being mass-produced.
These mass-produced combat abilities were extracted and designed by Selection Pressure [S+], then reflected onto T-Rex in real-time at [S-] grade or higher.
In other words.
…T-Rex was transcending biological evolution speed entirely.
“Hahahahahaha!!!”
T-Rex clutched her face and burst into wild laughter.
Ecstasy, joy, madness, exultation.
It was laughter suffused with every conceivable emotion.
The laughter of a life standing at evolution’s threshold, convinced it had reached the ultimate realm.
“I have transcended the limits of life!!”
With that, T-Rex realized her current form could no longer contain her.
“Tremble in fear and terror!!”
And so she began to evolve.
T-Rex’s body twisted grotesquely.
“I am the apex predator of The Continent, born from the ancient earth itself—”
The supreme tyrant of all living things.
The very embodiment of life that even mass extinction could not claim.
“Every path of evolution converges upon me, and all roads to survival ultimately lead to my existence.”
No creature.
No being.
Every possibility that evolution can offer shall inevitably flow toward this singular point.
“I am the inevitable existence you must face upon your evolutionary journey—!”
The beginning of evolution.
The end of evolution.
The pinnacle of evolution itself.
“The Ultimate Species—T-Rex!!!”
…T-Rex had finally opened the path toward ultimate evolution.

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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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