The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 321

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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 321. Life and Death (1)
Hades’ eyes were hollow and vacant.
Within them, his gaze ignited with shock.
Beings that should have perished were rising, denying death itself.
[This cannot be…!!]
Hades’ astonishment burst forth.
He could not comprehend it.
I know.
The phenomenon unfolding before my eyes.
And yet, I cannot accept it.
Death cannot be denied.
Not while one lives.
Death is an inescapable fate.
All that has a beginning must meet an end.
Even this world is no exception.
Someday, an ending exists.
In other words, death is the ‘conclusion’ of this world.
But now.
That conclusion has been denied.
No—it has been rewritten.
A fate and ending already decreed has been altered.
[How…! How is this possible…!!]
Hades’ astonishment knew no end.
Beyond that shock, a battle cry erupted.
“All units, advance forward—!!!”
The soldiers of Whitewolf Territory surged ahead.
The Death Legion rose to meet them.
Shrieeeeeek—!!
Screeeeeech—!!
They halted the soldiers’ advance, cloaked in chilling death.
But these were immortal soldiers.
They did not fall.
Death’s conclusion no longer awaited them.
And so death wielded no power against them.
Crack! Splinter!
Clang, snap!
…The Death Legion crumbled helplessly.
Death was powerless before immortality.
A perfect counter.
[What in the world is this…!!]
Hades’ eyes blazed with despair.
Not merely because death was being pushed back.
Not only because of the shock of immortality.
It was because there was no way to stop it.
The birth of pristine life gestating within Count’s Castle.
With this.
The world’s order would be inverted.
Death would become powerless before it.
Even gods could not dare to intervene.
The ultimate life—existing above all that exists.
…I had to stop it.
That birth alone.
No matter what price I paid.
Even if it meant Hades’ own annihilation.
I had to stop it without fail.
That was the mission bestowed upon me.
[Mortal, remember death—Memento Mori!!]
Black waves of force rippled outward from Hades’ entire being.
* * *
Death.
The end of a living creature’s existence.
Death meant a state without life.
Yet when water dries, it becomes cloud.
When wind ceases, seeds touch earth and sprout.
When flame dies, it becomes ash.
And ash becomes soil once more.
Life is a beginning and death is an end, but every end becomes the beginning of something else.
Life and death.
These two are distinct, yet equal to one another.
Therefore, nature did not separate life and death.
But what if they were separated?
If life remained only life.
And death lingered only as death.
Life could never end in death.
Death could never return to life.
As a result.
Nature would collapse.
And if within that collapse there existed one who held dominion over ending and beginning.
Then that one would be nature itself.
Surely becoming a god that truly exists.
And so, now.
The proof unfolded before my eyes.
Krrrrrrrunch—!!
Space trembled and shuddered.
Cracks like a spider’s web carved across all directions.
A strange dissonance emanated from the entire space.
Screeeech!
A gnawing, ravenous hunger laid bare.
The flesh itself became terror, beginning to erode the mind.
Something gnawing at the corners of consciousness.
Endless, meaningless struggle stretching into eternity.
The soldiers of Whitewolf Territory, the Dwarves, the Elves—all halted their advance.
In that moment.
Hades’ form scattered into darkness.
The scattered darkness ascended toward the heavens.
And then.
The color drained from the sky.
Boom boom boom boom—!!
Neither blue nor darkness remained.
Zero.
Beneath it, all things in the world began to vanish.
Shhhhhhh—!!
The Death Legion crumbled to dust and disappeared.
Life and death.
With the cycle of these two broken, life could no longer reach the dead.
Death, as an ending, began to erase all existence.
Kai held my breath.
I expanded my perception.
I inscribed immortality upon Whitewolf Territory, where the ending had descended.
The ending could not erase immortality itself.
Thus, all beings in Whitewolf Territory remained unaffected by the ending.
But there was one exception.
Adrian.
My immortality did not reach Adrian.
My immortality was rooted in mana.
And Adrian repels mana.
Nothing based on mana could affect Adrian.
Therefore, as long as my immortality was rooted in mana, Adrian could only exist beyond its reach.
Just as this world could not suppress Adrian.
Neither could my perception protect him.
“No… it can’t be.”
Kai understood.
Hades.
He was targeting Adrian.
Hades had thrown down his final gambit.
Even if it meant burning away his own existence, there was only one thing—
Adrian had to die, no matter what.
Ssssssssshhhhhhh—!!
Death converged.
Carrying only the meaning of annihilation, it swirled like a colossal maelstrom.
…There was no way to stop it.
Kai could protect everyone in the Whitewolf Territory from death.
But there was one person.
Adrian alone, he could not save.
And so.
Death’s sentence was passed upon Adrian.
* * *
Seraphia understood instinctively.
Death had consumed everything.
Through it, Seraphia could perceive that Adrian’s death was being carried out at this very moment.
The cocoon’s surface cracked with a sharp sound.
Rough fissures spread across it like parched earth in drought.
The cocoon no longer pulsed.
No sign of life’s vitality could be felt.
A blooming black and ominous aura.
It was not darkness.
It was death itself.
“Brother!!”
Seraphia drew forth the power of eternal frost.
In an instant, spreading chill seized hold of death.
But it was insufficient.
She could not annihilate death.
Because it was already perfected as finality itself.
In other words, death is annihilation.
And the power of eternal frost is also a force of annihilation.
The apocalyptic power that even extinguishes stars.
Seraphia’s chill grasped death, but could not oppose its essence.
That is, forces of the same nature as death could not erase one another.
Rather, within the same wavelength.
Death spread all the more certainly.
Craaaaaack—!!
The fissure in the cocoon deepened.
Seraphia sensed it instinctively.
Her power alone could not hold it back.
Yet Seraphia raised her hand once more.
A force transcending absolute zero.
To draw forth a power that even death itself could not bear.
“Ghhhhhhhhaaaaaahhh!!!”
The frigid aura that had seized death began to freeze the world anew.
But death did not halt.
Even within the cold, death flowed onward.
Death seeped through the frozen cracks.
Seraphia was still insufficient.
She did not know how to erase annihilation with annihilation.
She had not yet reached the level to suspend death itself.
In other words, Seraphia could not prevent Adrian’s death.
“No… No…!!!”
Seraphia’s face drained of all color.
* * *
A chill constricts my consciousness.
The genetic information that had been evolving me ceased all at once.
The dividing cells halted.
The organs being reconstructed froze solid.
My body was not dying.
My very existence was being erased as though it had never been from the beginning.
Event Fall—the collapse point of causality.
The moment I crossed the boundary line called death.
All information began to be lost.
And so.
All information that defined my existence collapsed—
Until I touched the vanishing point of existential definition, where I could no longer be called anything—
◆※Error※[Error] of ????????
Even the text itself was corrupted and scattered.
And I could do nothing.
No words, no movement.
Not even a single thought could emerge.
And so I understood.
Becoming the ultimate lifeform was not about ‘defeating’ death.
It was exactly as the Calamity Quest stated.
It was about ‘surviving’ death.
Just as a young Dragon fears a fully grown Ogre.
An incomplete ultimate lifeform was powerless before death.
And so I could not survive.
…It is over.
There was no way through.
Before death, I was nothing but a helpless creature.
Ian’s abilities were useless.
The experiences of my past life held no meaning.
My strength, Ian’s abilities, my past life’s experiences—nothing could overcome death.
This was the end.
Evolution had ceased.
Consciousness faded.
Everything was consumed by darkness.
But then.
Some force seized my dimming consciousness.
A power that was neither my own strength, nor Ian’s abilities, nor my past life’s experiences.
* * *
Spaaaaaaash—!!
In an instant, emerald light burst forth.
That radiance surging from the gap between death and cold was none other than—.
“Forest Guardian!”
It was Rielin’s.
Rielin, The Spirit Summoner who commands living spirits.
The light erupting from Rielin’s entire body carried the power of spirits and life itself.
The emerald glow pushed back death and cold, seeping through the cracks of the rift.
But it could not drive back death.
The cycle connecting life and death had already been severed.
Yet Rielin did not stop.
She gritted her teeth.
Even if her own power could not transcend death.
Even if the end had been decided.
Rielin would not surrender.
Adrian.
Because he had not given up on her.
Not so long ago.
When Sylvandir Forest was consumed by nightmare.
When Rielin was consumed by Mongma and lost herself.
When everyone fell to their knees in endless nightmare.
There was one person.
Adrian alone had never abandoned hope.
So then.
‘I won’t abandon you either!!’
Rielin reached out her hand.
The moment her fingertips touched the cocoon, death responded.
Cold and merciless death rejected Rielin, rejected life itself.
“Kyaaaah—!”
A scream tore from her throat.
She could advance no further.
But she did not stop.
Rielin gritted her teeth and drew in a sharp breath.
Her consciousness plummeted in an instant.
And from that fading consciousness, a brilliant emerald light bloomed.
Whoooooosh!!
Dream Distribution.
Rielin’s ability to create a world of dreams and connect and share it.
Rielin’s consciousness grew hazy.
The sensations of reality slipped away one by one.
And so.
—Brother!!!
With Seraphia’s desperate voice as the last anchor, Rielin’s consciousness flowed into the world of dreams.
* * *
Dim threads of light drifting through empty space like wandering spirits.
There was no sun in the sky, no moon.
Only darkness that slowly devoured the light.
An abyss of contradiction where existence and non-existence denied each other while coexisting.
Because no one could imagine or perceive death.
A dream world that death itself had imagined and created.
Though she had never heard it from anyone, Rielin could understand.
“…Valley of Kardun.”
The name of this place was the Valley of Kardun.

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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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