The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 371

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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 371. Distortion (1)
My consciousness convulsed violently.
The memory I had been grasping at moments before was crushed beneath something, vanishing like dust.
Names, reasons, emotions.
Everything faded to obscurity in an instant.
Language shattered.
Form twisted grotesquely.
…A colossal force was suffocating my consciousness.
Slowly.
Yet inexorably.
In the moment my consciousness threatened to collapse at its edges.
◆The Successor’s Will [EX] resists the denied perception!!
A message flashed brilliantly before my eyes.
Something ignited like flame from beyond consciousness.
It enveloped the edges of my awareness and seized my crumbling self.
Thus I was able to endure without shattering.
And.
◆123,115 Sanity has been accumulated.
“…!!”
My eyes snapped wide open.
A staggering 123,115 Sanity.
An overwhelmingly massive figure.
Never before had I accumulated such a number in a single instance.
Fafnir the Dragon had multiple parts.
In other words, the result of consuming madness factors simultaneously.
This was undoubtedly the first time such a figure had accumulated in a single action.
Thud, thud.
A heavy aura pressed down upon the earth.
Settling dust and haze.
Darkness seeped through the gaps.
With the scraping sound of metal, someone emerged.
Armor faded to blackness.
Within the helm, blue-green flames flickered.
‘A Death Knight…?’
That was my first thought.
But no.
It was different.
Though its form resembled a Death Knight, the aura it emanated was utterly unlike anything a Death Knight could produce.
Crack! Crackle!
With each step it took, the surrounding air froze instantaneously.
His mere presence drains all warmth from the air.
Even breathing has become labored and frigid, each inhale a burden.
He extends his hand forward.
Shhhhiiiiing—!
Dense darkness coalesces in his palm, taking on a sharp, lethal form.
A spear.
A jet-black spear that devours light itself.
The moment his grip tightens.
Killing intent erupts from the spearhead—cold enough to freeze bone marrow.
Refined murderous intent.
Naked hostility.
My premonition screams a warning.
‘I’m going to die!’
I seize Marzen by the nape of his neck and hurl him backward with all my strength.
“Kyaaah—!”
As Marzen shrieks.
Crash!
My vision shatters. Black light flares brilliantly.
Right before me.
The jet-black spear pierces deep into the earth.
The ground collapses inward, darkness spreading in all directions.
The Death Knight wrenches the spear free.
No hesitation.
The keen spearpoint shoots forth.
I unfold the genetic map of the Perfect Organism [UL].
Energy surges from within my body.
Power roils to the surface.
I cannot afford to be driven back here.
Every defensive layer enveloping my body activates simultaneously.
Dermal reinforcement, impact absorption.
Nerve suppression, bone density enhancement.
Muscle fiber elasticity and joint rotation—every biological genetic ability combines into one.
—Boom!!
An impact like artillery fire crashes down upon me.
“Ugh…!”
I barely block it.
Barely, in the truest sense of the word.
The Death Knight shows no surprise, thrusting the spear again and again.
In an instant, the spear’s trajectory shifts.
I rotate the spear outward, pushing it away.
I pulled inward and pressed down.
Then thrust again, counterattacking.
Clang clang clang clang clang clang clang!!
The spear strikes came relentlessly.
Thrust, bind, push away.
A continuous sequence of penetrating movements.
To my eyes, there was no opening to exploit… none whatsoever.
I gritted my teeth and endured.
I heard the sound of tendons tearing.
My entire body convulsed.
I forced my body to recover.
But the recovery speed couldn’t keep pace.
The spear pierced through once more.
Crack!
My left arm was torn away.
My stance collapsed in that instant.
The Death Knight did not miss that opening.
The spear raked past before me.
A twisted trajectory.
This time, I cannot block it.
I immediately deactivated the defense system of the Perfect Organism.
Prioritized summoning the reflection genes.
Pushed hypersensitivity to its absolute limit.
Then.
A single unit of time began to fracture.
Hal, pun, ri.
The world slowed.
Mo, mi, seom, jin.
The Death Knight’s movements gradually froze.
Ae, myo, mak.
The Death Knight stopped like a painting.
My consciousness accelerated faster than the Death Knight’s.
The jet-black spear thrusting upward.
Within that trajectory.
There existed a hairline gap.
I dove through that opening.
I lowered my body until it nearly touched the ground, slipping through like a whisper across the earth.
A margin narrower than a single strand of hair.
With a burst of acceleration, I pierced past the Death Knight’s flank.
The Death Knight reacted.
‘…It responded?’
The spear tip grazed my shoulder.
My fingertips drove into the Death Knight’s flank below the ribs.
Crash!
The impact struck the Death Knight’s armor.
The sensation was heavy, solid.
In other words, I hadn’t pierced through.
But though I hadn’t pierced it, the impact transferred nonetheless.
Crunch!
The armor crumpled. I drove my hand through to its limit.
Boom!
The Death Knight’s body was shoved backward.
I didn’t stop.
I dragged my rear leg forward, channeling power to its absolute limit.
Kaboom!
The Death Knight’s body flew backward.
I gasped for breath.
My heart pounded wildly, my entire body throbbing with pain.
The Death Knight tumbled across the ground several times before slowly rising to its feet.
The Death Knight’s breathing remained completely steady.
‘Impossibly strong!’
Beyond reason.
We’re operating on entirely different levels.
My survival instinct as a Perfect Lifeform regarded this Death Knight as an overwhelmingly dire threat.
Just then.
“Remarkable.”
A voice from somewhere.
Neither the Death Knight nor Marzen.
I turned my head.
A figure loomed like a shadow at the edge of my vision.
Immaculately groomed silver-white hair.
A white mask.
‘Aurec Ordan…!’
The Special Operations Bureau Director, Aurec Ordan.
My entire focus had been locked on that Death Knight—I hadn’t sensed his presence at all.
And Kai had said he couldn’t suppress him.
It appeared to be true.
There was no reason for it to be a lie in the first place.
Aurec Ordan slowly emerged from the shadows.
“Not a single recorded case of survival against that entity….”
A face concealed behind a mask.
Yet Aurec was genuinely impressed.
“You have far exceeded our expectations, Kim Fujiwara.”
I swallowed hard.
After observing the Death Knight’s movements, I questioned Aurec.
“What is the meaning of this?”
“Your first question is ‘what is this’—how amusing.”
Aurec smiled with derision.
“It seems you already know who I am.”
“I don’t care who you are. But you owe me an explanation for this situation.”
I glanced at the Death Knight once more.
The spear’s point was directed at me.
Clear hostility.
There was no sign of lowering its guard.
I tensed and spoke to Aurec again.
“It seems you don’t fully understand the situation—”
“Isn’t this a transport of Runesteel? A shipment of 150,000 tons, no less.”
“…You knew that, and still orchestrated this?”
“Why shouldn’t I?”
“Under whose authority is this transaction—”
Clarity struck me in an instant.
The Special Operations Bureau is the Emperor’s instrument.
In other words.
Aurec’s involvement meant The Emperor’s involvement.
Which meant this ambush was carried out under The Emperor’s orders.
In essence, The Emperor never intended to complete this transaction fairly.
He meant to kill me here.
And seize the 150,000 tons of Runesteel for himself.
I clenched my teeth.
“…Treacherous bastards.”
“Hahahaha! So you do know who I am.”
Aurec burst into laughter.
“Remarkable, truly remarkable. How you managed to slip past our notice and reach this point.”
Aurec studied me intently.
Beyond the mask.
His gaze held nothing but admiration.
“I never imagined there would be another variable like Adrian.”
Aurec did not know.
That I am Kim Fujiwara.
Which meant, in other words.
Even The Emperor didn’t know.
“If I let you live, there’s no telling when or where you’ll become a nuisance again. That’s precisely why I cannot allow you to survive.”
“Do you truly believe that’s possible?”
I steadied my posture.
My body was still screaming in protest.
But it was fine.
I could suppress Aurec without difficulty.
“Go tell The Emperor. If he wants to capture me, he’ll have to come himself.”
“Is that so?”
Aurec took a step backward.
In that same instant, the Death Knight reacted.
Killing intent surged forth.
The spear tip aimed at me trembled with barely contained force.
Black flames flickered as the Death Knight advanced a single step closer.
…The weight is different.
Its very existence bears down like gravity itself.
With just one step closing the distance, the density and pressure of the air transformed.
Rising darkness.
My vision warped from it alone.
I couldn’t believe such a thought was even crossing my mind.
‘Can I win?’
Even reviewing all the biological data of the Perfect Organism, I found no answer for confronting that Death Knight.
‘Marzen would….’
To be blunt, he’d be useless.
At minimum, Kai.
In other words, only forces capable of matching a Lord could lend me aid now.
My instincts knew first.
That difference and gap.
That overwhelming presence.
And so my instincts spoke.
‘The Darkness Lord….’
That is the true Darkness Lord.
As if to cement that certainty.
A new Quest materialized before my eyes.
◆Calamity Quest, [I lifted the veil and glimpsed beyond, but there was ?? waiting]—commencing.
==[I lifted the veil and glimpsed beyond, but there was ?? waiting]==
[Objective] – Devour the Darkness Lord
[Reward] – ???
[Failure] – ???
…A Calamity Quest.
It was not a Calamity Quest.
As if to prove that I was an Another of Another, a supreme lord transcending the caliber of all other lords.
The Darkness Lord standing before me, bearing the name of catastrophe itself.
In other words.
‘It was not Blake.’
Blake was merely the commander of the Dark Legion.
Aurec and the Special Operations Bureau were the Dark Legion.
And the Darkness Lord was that Death Knight standing before my eyes right now.
‘But why…?’
Yet something felt wrong.
Something… something was out of place.
Roooaaarrr!!
Darkness swept across all directions.
It severed my thoughts.
There were countless questions, but I pushed them aside for now.
Craaackle!
The jet-black spear began to spin.
I swallowed hard, feeling my throat burn.
A sky stained pitch black.
The darkness contained a malevolent power operating on an entirely different dimension from Blake’s.
It descended upon me.
I moved instantly.
‘Perfect Organism alone won’t suffice.’
My consciousness accelerated.
The subtleties of speed that Ian taught me flooded my mind.
Crack!
My body became a single bolt of lightning, carving a path forward.

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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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