The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 356

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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 356. One Loach Muddies the Entire Pond (1)
Someone claiming to be Adrian.
Leon’s eyes widened.
But in the Underground Dungeon, devoid of a single window.
The complete darkness, absent even a glimmer of light, obscured his face entirely.
Even attempting to discern his features by touch had its limitations.
In the end, Adrian.
Or rather, the one presumed to be Adrian spoke quietly.
“Does Your Highness not wish to marry Seraphia… or rather, does Your Highness not desire marriage with Seraphia?”
“Mmph, mmmph.”
“I’ll remove the gag, so please refrain from screaming.”
“Mmmph—ahhh, that’s something all the nobles within the Royal Palace already know.”
“…Pardon?”
The one presumed to be Adrian responded with bewilderment.
“How do all the nobles within the Royal Palace know that?”
“Because there is no woman besides Seraphia who possesses such perfection and loveliness befitting a queen.”
“…”
The one presumed to be Adrian fell silent, unable to continue.
A vacant expression and face.
Ah, of course, the face remained invisible.
But Leon’s instinct told him it was vacant.
“…Are you in your right mind in this situation?”
“Perfectly sound, I assure you.”
“Surely you haven’t been spouting things like Aleph-null or Beth-one everywhere?”
“So you are Adrian after all.”
“…It seems you haven’t told anyone about that.”
Leon nodded.
Adrian exhaled softly.
“In any case, time is scarce, so I’ll confirm the matter quickly. First of all…”
A brief silence.
Then Adrian spoke with evident surprise.
“You’re wearing the Yonganseok pendant and the Dragon Scale inner armor I gave you?”
“Can you see that?”
Leon looked around.
Pitch-black darkness.
Even Adrian’s face right before him remained invisible.
Yet Adrian spoke with composure.
“Yes, I can see it.”
“How?”
“Time is limited, and the explanation is complex. So simply accept it as such.”
“….”
“More importantly, how are you wearing the Yonganseok Pendant and Dragon Scale Inner Armor?”
Leon swallowed his reluctance and answered.
“I pushed for it.”
“You pushed for it?”
“Still, I’m a prince, aren’t I? A prince on the eve of the Crown Prince Investiture Ceremony, no less.”
“You forced it through by rank?”
“That’s right.”
“Weren’t those designated as national treasures?”
“They were.”
“Even a Crown Prince shouldn’t be able to privately own national treasures, should he?”
“That’s also correct.”
“Yet you pushed for it and took them anyway?”
“It’s complicated to explain, so just accept it as is.”
“….”
Adrian’s expression darkened.
Of course, Leon couldn’t see that expression.
“I naturally assumed they would be confiscated… this trip was pointless then.”
Adrian muttered dejectedly.
A brief sigh followed.
But he quickly corrected himself.
“Well, regardless, you did well. No matter what happens, you must continue wearing the Yonganseok Pendant and Dragon Scale Inner Armor.”
“Why?”
“There’s no time, and the explanation would be lengthy, so just accept it as is.”
“….”
“Then I’ll visit again later.”
And then came only silence.
As if Adrian had dissolved into the darkness itself.
His presence vanished in an instant.
* * *
Exiting the Underground Dungeon.
I saw countless corridors and interconnected galleries.
The Royal Palace, with dozens of chambers woven together like an enormous labyrinth.
It was quite complex, but….
‘Nothing has really changed.’
I made my way toward the less-traveled areas of the Royal Palace.
Places where vigilance was somewhat lax.
Yet my heightened senses detected considerable presences.
As the Royal Palace, it couldn’t possibly be full of gaps.
I maintained my concealment.
And then I began to contemplate my next course of action.
‘First, I’ve secured Leon’s safety, the most critical matter.’
…But this was somewhat unexpected.
Given that it was designated as a national treasure, it should have been standard procedure to confiscate it from Leon once he became a traitor.
So after I discovered where Leon kept the national treasure stored,
I had planned to steal it away in secret.
‘Yet he stubbornly continued to wear it.’
In any case, Leon remained Leon.
Regardless.
Leon’s safety was now secured.
‘Now I need to extract Leon from the Underground Dungeon.’
The extraction itself wouldn’t be difficult.
I could simply destroy everything and escape right now.
Even with the stringent security of the Royal Palace, extracting Leon alone was no great feat for me at this moment.
But I didn’t do that.
It would have been meaningless.
‘His status as a traitor would remain unchanged.’
In other words, merely freeing Leon from prison wasn’t enough.
I had to enable him to rise again as the Crown Prince.
To accomplish that, I needed to strip away the stigma of treason.
‘The problem is that it’s not a false accusation.’
Leon did kill the King—that’s a fact.
It’s neither a frame-up nor fabrication.
It’s undeniable truth.
I didn’t bother verifying the details with Leon.
It felt wrong to press him on responsibility.
Regardless of whether it was truth or not,
my resolve to help Leon remained unwavering.
‘For now, I must do what’s necessary.’
Leon’s release.
Not merely extracting him from the dungeon.
I had to free him while stripping away his status as a traitor.
In truth, there was only one method.
‘I’ll need to fabricate the truth.’
I had to construct a narrative that would conceal the facts.
One so meticulously crafted that everyone would have no choice but to believe it.
‘There’s nothing I can’t do.’
I serve under the Allied Forces Command as part of the Special Task Force.
Special Forces Duke Commander.
I’ve executed countless covert operations and intelligence activities throughout my career.
Information distortion, assassination disguised as accident, evidence fabrication—the list went on.
I had handled countless dirty operations that could never see the light of day, all with my own hands.
This situation was no different.
The methods available were endless.
My hands were practiced in such work, but…
‘The Special Operations Bureau is involved in this.’
That changed things considerably.
They were specialists in covert operations, just like me.
In my past life, the Special Operations Bureau had entangled with me more than any other organization.
The Emperor’s direct agency—the Special Operations Bureau.
Ian’s direct agency—the Special Task Force.
We had stood in absolute opposition from beginning to end.
And based on that experience, I knew one thing.
‘…It won’t work.’
Most methods would prove useless against them.
Half-hearted tricks were worse than no tricks at all.
They would see through everything in an instant.
There could be no room for clumsiness.
Otherwise, I would be the one caught in the trap.
I needed meticulous planning, exquisite precision, flawless design.
‘But my knowledge of the Battenberg Kingdom is far too limited.’
The Darkness Lord had erased it from my memory.
I had no recollection of investigating anything about it in my past life, let alone the information itself.
I possessed no future knowledge regarding the Battenberg Kingdom.
‘I cannot act recklessly.’
Yet I could not afford to hesitate either.
The Special Operations Bureau was already moving.
‘First, I must gather intelligence.’
I turned my steps toward the streets of the Capital.
It was at that very moment.
My heightened senses detected a presence.
‘Baron Segretus…?’
The head of Iliana’s family—the Marquis Segretus Family.
Once, he had served as Prime Minister of the Battenberg Kingdom.
But he had been driven from power.
Implicated in Queen Marceline’s treason, he had been stripped of his position by Leon.
At least he had escaped execution.
But all his authority had been stripped away.
He was silenced in the Nobility Council and forbidden from entering the Royal Palace.
He was, for all intents and purposes, a finished man.
And yet here he was, brazenly strolling through the Royal Palace.
It seemed he must have returned after Leon became a traitor.
‘…That couldn’t be right.’
It made no sense.
Even if Leon had become a traitor.
Queen Marceline’s crime of treason hadn’t disappeared.
Baron Segretus and Queen Marceline.
With the circumstances implicating both of them so clearly, restoration was impossible—let alone appearing in the Royal Palace.
Yet Baron Segretus was brazenly strolling through the Royal Palace.
‘…Something’s going on here.’
I carefully tailed Baron Segretus.
* * *
The Capital, Battenberg’s Inner City.
A district primarily inhabited by high-ranking nobles, senior officials, and the upper merchant class.
Those who held the Kingdom’s politics and economy in their hands.
Only the figures who truly moved the Kingdom resided here, and luxurious mansions lined the broad avenues as if flaunting their status.
Among them, the grandest estate of all.
Baron Segretus sat in the Study of the grand mansion.
Beyond the Study’s windows.
The streets of the Capital sprawled below in full view.
Confused public sentiment.
An unstable atmosphere.
Since news of Leon’s treason had spread, the Capital had descended into chaos.
“Quite a pleasant sight, wouldn’t you say?”
Baron Segretus turned his head.
“It seems we need only fit in the final piece, don’t you think?”
Then, from one corner of the Study.
A man emerged from the shadows.
A black cloak, restrained movements.
An expressionless face.
He met the Baron’s gaze directly and spoke.
“We’ve secured the justification, the forces, and the supporting nobles.”
“Already?”
“Is the Third Prince Walter prepared?”
The man offered no allowance for the Baron’s question.
Only a cold demand for answers.
Baron Segretus furrowed his brow slightly and replied.
“…If you mean ready to wear the crown, then yes.”
“Then we shall begin in two days’ time.”
“Isn’t that too hasty? Perhaps we should wait a little longer—”
“I’ll make the judgment.”
The man cut off the conversation decisively.
Baron Segretus’s face hardened.
Yet the man continued speaking expressionlessly, unbothered.
“Two days from now, at noon precisely. Instruct him to enter the Royal Palace at that time.”
“….”
“The nobility will announce their official support at that moment, and the royal seal will be delivered immediately after.”
“Installing a puppet king, yet you’re quite thorough with the formalities.”
Baron Segretus continued with a sneer.
“Leon and Blake. Both princes have become traitors, so only Walter remains of the bloodline.”
“….”
“So you’ll place the crown on Walter’s head, and then you’ll begin your puppet show.”
“You’re the one actually governing. Baron Segretus.”
“In exchange, I must obey your every word without fail.”
“Does that displease you?”
“Is there a king who enjoys crawling between another man’s legs?”
Baron Segretus laughed coldly.
A brief silence.
The man answered with an expressionless face.
“You’ll have to grow accustomed to it.”
“And if I cannot?”
The man gazed at Baron Segretus intently.
* * *
The man currently conversing with Baron Segretus.
‘Alaric Straud.’
One of the Special Operations Bureau agents.
A considerably skilled operative.
Being a Special Operations Bureau agent placed him beyond the realm of ordinary humans from the start.
Yet despite my proximity, Alaric remained completely unaware of my presence.
It was different from the times with Marceline and Luseria.
Alaric couldn’t detect my aura at all.
It was thanks to the concealment ability I’d created with perfect lifeforms.
◆Erosion Veil
: A concealment ability that fuses the traits of semi-mana constitution and numerous organisms. The player cannot be detected through the five senses—sight, hearing, smell, and so forth.
Nor through mana, aura, biowave patterns, or psychic sensing methods.
I’d based it on my semi-mana constitution and combined all manner of genetic abilities.
The metabolic stasis of hibernating animals.
The friction-elimination ability of the extinct dinosaur, Icarosaurus.
The scent-blocking trait of Daitoceirus.
And further still—deep-sea squid, chameleon, and so on.
Thus, I could do far more than merely blend with my surroundings—I could neutralize the sensory systems of every living creature.
Therefore, no living being could ever detect my presence.
“He will lose everything.”
Alaric continued coldly.
“Walter is not a prince.”
“….”
“Even though he is the Queen’s son, he does not carry the King’s blood.”
Baron Segretus’s eyes narrowed to slits.
And my eyes widened in shock.
‘Walter is not of the King’s bloodline…?’
What nonsense was this?
As if answering my bewilderment.
Alaric slowly opened his mouth.
“Walter is a bastard born between you and Marceline.”

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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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