The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 48

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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 48. The Beast Legion Commander (2)
A thick darkness blanketed the Snowy Mountain’s night.
In the gloom where even moonlight hid behind clouds, Kai and the Lycanthrope clashed.
Clang!
Metal struck metal, and sparks erupted into the air.
Kai’s blade wreathed in aura.
Yet it could not sever the Lycanthrope’s claws.
In the burst of sparks, darkness fled for a fleeting instant.
Within that moment, the Lycanthrope’s two eyes gleamed with crimson radiance.
Those pupils burned with the ferocity of a beast and the pure killing intent of a monster.
‘Danger!’
I recoiled swiftly at the warning my instincts screamed.
Slash!
In that same instant, the Lycanthrope’s vicious claws tore through the space where I had just stood.
I swallowed hard without thinking.
Had I failed to evade that attack, my entire body would have been shredded along with my aura-wreathed blade.
It was astonishingly nimble and terrifyingly powerful.
Had Adrian truly faced this savage beast alone?
I steadied my breathing calmly and adjusted my grip on my sword.
In that moment, the Lycanthrope’s claws raked the earth, tearing through the ground as the distance closed in an instant.
A colossal frame exceeding six meters.
Razor-sharp claws wielded by densely packed muscle.
They extended toward me in eerie silence.
But my blade was already in motion at that very instant.
The Lycanthrope’s right arm opened in a long gash. Not a fatal wound.
Yet the blow was far from ineffective.
The Lycanthrope’s arm muscles shuddered. The trajectory of its wielded claws wavered for a split second. I seized that infinitesimal gap.
Boom!
An explosion erupted between the colliding blade and claws.
No more metallic sounds followed.
Each strike of my aura-wreathed blade and each of the Lycanthrope’s claw attacks were lethal blows.
The weight of the wounds we inflicted upon each other had shifted.
My sword strikes danced with frenzied intensity. The Dance of Fangs.
Crash! Boom!
Blade and claws collided relentlessly. Neither side gave ground. The Lycanthrope stepped forward.
I retreated a step backward.
The Lycanthrope’s claws, now holding the advantage, aimed for my ribs.
As I twisted to evade, my body froze.
Seraphia, clinging to my back.
If I dodged now, Seraphia would be in danger.
I had to protect her.
Even if it cost me my life.
I didn’t need anyone’s understanding.
Since when.
Did following my heart require approval?
Shrrip—!
My side was torn open in a long, jagged wound.
Incalculable blood gushed forth in a torrent.
Had I been wearing armor, it might have absorbed some of the damage, but I’d discarded everything in the name of mobility.
In other words, a mortal wound.
One that would normally render continued combat impossible.
Yet I did not fall.
The ability I’d gained upon reaching the Master realm—Immortal.
But Immortal was not a regenerative power like healing.
It merely ensured that wounds would not be fatal.
As a byproduct of eternal life, I could sustain my vitality indefinitely.
For as long as my Auror reserves remained.
And it was not as though I felt no pain. Quite the opposite—terrible agony ravaged my mind.
But the small heartbeat of Seraphia, clinging to my back.
Her quiet, steady breathing.
These gave me profound solace.
With an impassive face and expression, I tightened my grip on my blade.
Clang—!
The sword swung. Its edge lacked sharpness.
The fundamentals of swordplay are cuts and thrusts.
What the Continent calls ascending swordplay is a method of mastering these two basics more skillfully and applying them with greater efficiency.
Some wield blades swift as lightning, others solid as stone, some burning hot as the sun, and still others flowing like water.
And I drew my inspiration from the hunting methods of wolves.
The first strike shakes the Lycanthrope’s defense. The following lateral attack creates an opening.
And then the third.
Wolf swordplay. Second form.
Claw Of The Moonlight.
Rapid successive cuts, swift as a wolf’s strike.
The Lycanthrope retreated, bleeding, and regarded me warily with a low growl.
Even as it did, the Lycanthrope’s wounds were already healing.
The Lycanthrope possessed formidable regenerative power. Ordinary wounds dealt it no real damage.
In other words, ‘wounds’ alone would not suffice.
I drew a sharp breath and lunged forward.
Mimicking the moment a wolf pounces swiftly upon its prey.
A technique that pierces the enemy’s defense through fast, powerful thrusts and delivers a fatal blow.
Swordsmanship of the Wolf. Third Form.
Crimson Moon Strike.
I became a blood-red wolf and tore into the Lycanthrope.
* * *
Hunting down the legion… or rather, replenishing from the legion was not difficult.
Unlike the Lycanthrope, the legion’s monsters could not easily pierce my reinforced skin [B].
And like the Lycanthrope, the legion’s monsters had their hides torn like paper by my dragon claws [A].
Finally, the title “Master of the Frozen Peak.”
All the legion’s monsters facing me were in a state reduced by -15%.
I stuffed the flesh tearing in all directions indiscriminately into my mouth.
I quenched my throat with blood spraying in every direction.
◆Available Calories – 100,000Kcal
I could quickly fill the maximum accumulated calories of 100,000 in an instant.
◆Level increased!
An additional level up was a bonus.
And.
I could see Kai relentlessly pressing the Lycanthrope.
Despite a serious wound on his flank being torn open, Kai fought fiercely against the Lycanthrope.
The Lycanthrope could not easily suppress Kai.
Far from suppressing him, he was being pushed back steadily.
In truth, there was one purpose to bringing Kai on this operation.
Kai’s role in this operation was that of a “hunting dog.”
And a hunting dog is not something one becomes simply by being good at hunting.
The hunting dog’s role is not to hunt.
It is to track the prey and pin its feet until the hunter arrives.
Moreover, to exhaust the prey.
Therefore, a hunting dog requires two essential virtues.
Patience and stamina.
The hunting dog must not attack the prey until the hunter gives the command.
It must only keep the prey’s feet bound.
If that dog barked fiercely on its own, charged bravely, and was bitten to death?
That dog is disqualified as a hunting dog.
In that sense.
Kai could be said to be completely disqualified as a hunting dog.
Kai, who was driving the Lycanthrope forward rather than merely pinning its feet.
Kai was never a hunting dog from the start.
A military dog.
Unlike hunting dogs, a military dog’s role is operational support and elimination of enemies.
Kai’s sharp blade severed the Lycanthrope’s left arm.
Kwaaaaaahhhhh-!!!
The Lycanthrope shrieked in agony and staggered backward. Kai, who had been pursuing relentlessly, suddenly halted, his movements ceasing.
The Lycanthrope’s eyes blazed with a fusion of madness and fury.
A Berserk state.
In that condition, all of the Lycanthrope’s physical abilities doubled. The price was complete exhaustion.
In other words, the Lycanthrope had thrown down a desperate gambit.
Tension crystallized visibly in Kai’s azure eyes.
The ability Kai had gained upon reaching the Master’s realm—Immortal.
It resembled my Regeneration [B+] ability.
In other words, it was not true immortality.
When Aura depleted, it vanished. And Aura was a force that could not be replenished instantly.
But I was different.
What Regeneration [B+] required was nutrition.
When nutrition depleted, Regeneration [B+] ceased functioning—the same principle.
But nutrition could be replenished ‘instantly’.
And I had already restored myself to the maximum caloric threshold I could accumulate.
“Fall back!!”
At my shout, Kai swiftly retreated. But this time, the Lycanthrope did not simply watch.
The Lycanthrope pursued Kai with explosive velocity.
Moreover, the Lycanthrope commanded the legion to seize my ankle.
Switching positions the way we had before would be difficult. Kai seemed to share the thought, altering his approach.
Perhaps it was thanks to our experience against Gelu Drake.
Now we could discern each other’s intentions with perfect clarity through a mere glance.
Kai and I moved like battlefield partners who had fought together for decades.
Ignoring every incoming attack, we rushed toward one another.
Passing by each other naturally—
My Dragon’s Claw [A] raked across the Lycanthrope that had been descending upon Kai.
Kai’s azure fangs tore into the legion that had been descending upon me.
The Lycanthrope’s flailing claws shredded and tumbled backward.
The wave of the legion that had surged forward crumbled with a crash, and my vision cleared.
I, who had been facing the legion, could now confront the Lycanthrope once more.
Kai, who had been facing the Lycanthrope, could now confront the legion once more.
The situation reversed in the blink of an eye.
Kuh, kwaak?!
The Lycanthrope trembled in great shock, its body convulsing. Even trapped in a Berserk state woven from madness and fury, the Lycanthrope was bewildered.
It could not help but understand.
That now.
It had to make a choice.
Would it pull the legion back and face both Kai and me simultaneously?
Or would it face me alone, using the legion as sustenance for endless Regeneration [B+]?
“Choose wisely.”
On the battlefield, a single mistake, a single misjudgment, could tip the scales between life and death.
◆Activating combination skill ‘Metabolic Overdrive [U]’!
◆Caloric consumption – 50,000 Kcal
◆For [500 seconds], all of the player’s stats increase by [+50%]!
My nervous system surged into overdrive once more, fueled by the replenished nutrients.
In that instant, my dragon’s claws [A] swept through the air and tore through the Lycanthrope’s chest.
* * *
Dragon’s claws [A] ripped through his chest like paper, burrowing deep.
Crimson blood stained the snowy landscape, and the Lycanthrope descended further into a frenzy.
With all his physical abilities doubled, the Lycanthrope’s movements became grotesquely swift. His muscles convulsed with explosive force, grotesquely amplified.
But such power was not eternal.
I prolonged the battle by pushing my agility to its limits, allowing only those blows I could endure with Regeneration [B+]. I interspersed my dragon’s claws [A] to inflict damage methodically.
As time wore on, the Lycanthrope’s movements grew progressively slower.
With each passing moment, my attacks carved deeper wounds into his flesh. And a wounded beast invariably becomes more savage.
Yet the Lycanthrope before me did not.
Crash!
The Lycanthrope tumbled down the mountainside. Buried beneath snow and darkness, he struggled to rise.
His long snout, crocodile-like, growled with unmistakable fear.
Those eyes that had blazed with rage and madness were now consumed by dread.
He resembled prey standing before its predator.
The Lycanthrope’s eyes wavered greatly.
Hesitation was written plainly across his features.
Should he retreat his legion and face both me and Kai simultaneously?
Or should he face me alone—me, who could regenerate indefinitely [B+] by feeding on his legion?
The Lycanthrope’s teeth gnashed as he reached his decision.
Then, abruptly, he turned his back?
I had no time to react.
The Lycanthrope hurled his massive body down the mountainside and began fleeing desperately.
“What…?”
I stood momentarily dumbfounded.
I had never expected the Lycanthrope to choose flight.
A beast consumed by lust—I had never imagined he would flee.
It would have been more believable to see a sparrow simply pass through a mill.
It would have been more credible to see a cat walk past a fish market without stopping.
In my previous life, the Lycanthrope had never fled. In fact, that was precisely why he had died.
He had been obsessed with The Saint, refusing to flee even when escape was clearly possible.
A beast ruled by desire rather than survival instinct.
I had not called him ‘the beast born of lust’ without reason. I had not devised the strategy of using Seraphia as bait without cause.
Therefore, I had naturally assumed he would seize Seraphia at any cost.
I had never imagined he would abandon her and flee, even at the cost of his own life.
But what…?
Regardless, I couldn’t afford to let him escape.
If I lost the Lycanthrope here, I would never catch him again.
I had to devour the Lycanthrope [S+].
But the Lycanthrope’s fleeing speed was far too fast.
His physical abilities were already amplified by his frenzied state, yet now—convinced he would surely die—he was exhibiting more than double his normal velocity.
There was no choice.
‘I won’t be able to use my regenerative ability…’
I had to burn all my remaining calories and activate metabolic runaway [U]. Only then could I catch up to the fleeing Lycanthrope.
Fighting the Lycanthrope without my regeneration [B+] ability would be difficult, but the Lycanthrope was already in a frenzied state as well.
In other words, since he had thrown down his trump card, I too had to play mine.
Just as I was about to burn through every last calorie—
It was as though spacetime itself had frozen.
Everything across the Snowy Mountain was suddenly engulfed in silence.
The night sky above the Snowy Mountain was blanketed in deep indigo clouds, and a bitterly cold wind began to sweep in from the distance with piercing force.
My gaze slowly turned toward the source of that wind.
And then—
My entire body went rigid. I couldn’t move. My thoughts scattered in an instant.
My instincts screamed ceaselessly in warning, yet the thought to flee never surfaced.
Fear, terror, despair.
Even such emotions became meaningless.
Seraphia, unconscious and clinging to Kai’s back.
Seraphia, who had lost consciousness crushed beneath the Lycanthrope’s desire.
No matter how much I struggled, there was no surviving that existence—the very instinct for survival became hollow.
Beyond my vision, frozen like ice.
The Frost Lord lifted her pure white eyes and gazed upon me.

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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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