The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 49

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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 49. The Frost Lord
Kraaaah! Keh! Chuuuh! Araaaah!
Kieeeeh!
Through the haze of consciousness, incomprehensible sounds reached her ears.
Violent tremors shook her entire body.
Seraphia found herself bewildered, as though caught between dream and waking.
The faint noise gradually sharpened into clarity, and it did not take long for her to recognize it as the roars and shrieks of monsters.
Seraphia’s mind and body remained heavy and sluggish.
The biting air of Snowy Mountain swiftly pierced through her drowsy haze.
And the warmth radiating from within suddenly restored her grip on reality.
Seraphia’s eyes snapped open. In an instant, she realized she was being carried on someone’s back.
A broad back. Solid. Expansive.
‘Kai…?’
Kai was battling the monster horde while carrying Seraphia. With each stride he took, the earth of Snowy Mountain resonated with heavy force.
Kai’s ragged breathing.
It billowed forth in white, steaming clouds.
The landscape of Snowy Mountain was drenched in crimson blood. Countless monster corpses piled upon one another, forming another mountain of their own.
And the sounds of another battle echoed from afar.
Seraphia’s gaze turned toward the direction of the noise.
There, Adrian and the Lycanthrope clashed with ferocious intensity.
A black wolf and a wolf-man.
Two beasts tore and wounded each other, their battle unrelenting.
The thunderous booms that had been echoing since earlier—they were the sounds that erupted each time the two collided.
As Kai moved swiftly, her vision spun. When it settled again, the Lycanthrope showed signs of fatigue.
His movements grew progressively slower, and Adrian’s attacks carved ever-deeper wounds into his body.
And finally, the Lycanthrope’s eyes trembled, seized by terror.
The Lycanthrope suddenly turned his back.
Hurling his massive frame down the mountainside, he began fleeing in desperation.
“Wh…?”
Adrian’s voice faltered in that instant.
From where she was, Seraphia could not see Adrian’s face. But she understood.
Adrian was panicking.
At this rate… he would lose the Lycanthrope.
He needed to use his ability. It was the only way to capture the fleeing Lycanthrope. Yet courage would not come easily.
Seraphia bit her lower lip hard.
What was she hesitating about? What was she afraid of?
She had done nothing but foolishly collapse. Rather than helping, she had only received help!
Crushed beneath the madness of the Lycanthrope’s desire, unable to do anything—and now, was she truly going to do nothing again?
She was terrified. She was afraid.
She wanted to flee, to hide away.
But wouldn’t Adrian and Kai have felt fear as well?
Wouldn’t they have trembled at the thought of facing the Lycanthrope?
When Kai was caught by the Lycanthrope, he must have wanted to flee.
When Adrian confronted the Lycanthrope, he must have wanted to hide.
Yet neither of them ran.
Neither hid. They stood and fought.
So now it was my turn to fight.
I could not let the Lycanthrope escape this place.
The alpha of the Beast Legion.
If I allowed him to leave alive, he would return to threaten Whitewolf Territory again—far better prepared than before.
And when that day came, Adrian and Kai alone would not be enough to stop him. Even with the sacrifice of Count’s Castle’s soldiers, we could not prevail.
Everyone would die.
So I had to do this.
I had no choice.
Even if the price was my own death.
* * *
My crimson eyes, which normally gleamed like rubies set into flesh.
But not now.
Those crimson irises had transformed into pure white—cold as ice carved by a master’s hand, and utterly merciless.
Kiiiiiing—!!
With that otherworldly sound, threads of frigid energy erupted across my entire body.
Kai, who had been carrying me on his back, flinched in shock and trembled. He moved urgently to restrain me.
But his body froze solid.
He had not been granted permission.
No one had.
No one was permitted to move in this place.
The threads of frost energy spreading in all directions converged and rose skyward. As pure white light rippled through the air, the earth rapidly became shrouded in white frost.
And so every living thing in this place froze in place.
Kai and I, of course—along with the Beast Legion that blanketed Snowy Mountain, and even the fleeing Lycanthrope. All of them were encased in ice.
This is what it means to be a Lord.
One of the six beings whom The Emperor has acknowledged—not merely bred or slaughtered, but truly acknowledged.
A tier of power incomparable to mere Legion Commanders.
A world consumed by ice.
It made no sound whatsoever.
Absolute silence swallowed the world, and the air had frozen so thick and cold that breathing became impossible.
Even the wind that swept across the snow froze and stopped in place. Bitter frost energy rose from all directions, and particles of ice bloomed like flowers.
Six Lords who serve The Emperor.
The greatest threat to the Allied Forces.
The witch who took the left arm of the hero Ian.
Nightmares from my past life flooded my mind without restraint.
Horrific screams. Anguished cries of agony.
I could only watch helplessly—the me from my past life.
Though my vision blurred and spun, their faces remained vivid and crystalline, each one etched with terrible clarity.
Pleading for salvation, refusing death, crying out in unbearable pain—some were buried alive in ice, others torn limb from limb as blood erupted from their wounds.
I could only stand witness to that tragedy.
*Crackle, crackle-snap! Crackle-crackle-snap!*
My entire body had frozen solid, rendering me powerless to act.
Crushed beneath terror and dread, I was left paralyzed and numb—forced to watch my comrades, my allies, my operatives fall one by one.
And now, I remained equally helpless.
I could only tremble beneath the overwhelming, transcendent dread that the Frost Lord emanated.
◆My Will [EX] resists incomprehensible fear!
◆My Will [EX] resists inexplicable nightmares!
◆My Will [EX] resists indecipherable terror!
.
.
.
My Will [EX] resisted endlessly, yet to no avail.
The terror of that day, the nightmares of that day, the fear of the Frost Lord—all surged forth relentlessly, binding me tight.
Ian’s ability, My Will [EX], does not grant complete immunity.
It merely grants immunity to all effects exceeding my mental fortitude.
In other words, only when I exceed my maximum mental capacity does My Will [EX] activate—a mechanism designed solely to prevent my mind from collapsing instantaneously.
That was all it could do.
Which meant.
Ian faced the same limitation.
Ian could only endure up to the maximum of his own mental fortitude.
Facing the Abyss Lord—that inexplicable, unknowable terror—Ian trembled with the same fear.
He shook with dread as we did. He fell into despair as we did.
And yet.
Ian overcame it. He did not break.
Because he could not break. If he fell, so would the heroes who trusted and followed him, and all the people of the Continent.
Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces. The Hero Ian.
There was something Ian once told me.
-Endure, Adrian. If you falter, who will the operatives of the Special Task Force trust?
Special Task Force, subordinate to Allied Forces Command.
Commander of the Special Operations Unit.
That was unmistakably my past, my former life.
But no longer.
It will not be my future.
Never again. Not twice—!
I will not recreate that day’s nightmare.
Fear and terror are now theirs to bear.
Now it is my turn to become their nightmare.
I clenched my teeth so hard they ached.
Even that wasn’t enough—I bit down on the inside of my cheek until it throbbed.
Still unsatisfied, I bit my tongue.
I did not suppress the pain.
The sharp, metallic taste of blood and the exquisite agony that threatened to consume my sanity.
Slowly yet inexorably, it drove back the creeping dread and terror that had begun to take hold.
* * *
Seraphia unleashed her power.
By the time Kai realized it, it was already too late.
Crystalline flowers of ice bloomed in all directions.
They continued to unfold, gradually expanding their domain with each passing moment.
The ice petals, hauntingly beautiful, possessed a lethal force—mere contact with them meant certain death.
And when Seraphia extended her hand.
Death seeps into beauty itself.
When consciousness returned, the entire Beast Legion had become statues.
All those countless monsters that had blanketed Snowy Mountain now lay as grotesque and horrifying corpses.
No blood flowed.
Everything simply froze in place and stopped.
Kai’s mind froze, his breathing growing ragged.
The sensation in his frozen limbs—gone. No matter how much he drew upon his aura, his body refused to move.
The Lycanthrope too remained frozen in place, the bitter cold spreading from his legs upward in an instant to consume his entire body.
Frost descended upon his thick fur and skin—
Ice crystals erupted moment by moment, completely paralyzing the Lycanthrope’s movements.
His bodily fluids froze in an instant, rupturing muscles as hard as steel.
His blood crystallized just as quickly, tearing apart every resilient vessel in his body.
Eyes that had gleamed with rage and madness.
They were now consumed by terror.
Yet ironically, that terror was not directed at Seraphia.
“Struggling will do you no good.”
A voice suddenly pierced the silence.
His vision frozen, Kai could not discern the speaker’s form.
But that voice unmistakably belonged to Adrian.
‘How… how is this possible…?’
Shock flooded Kai’s eyes.
He knew Adrian had endured even Gelu Drake’s ice breath.
But this… no.
The frigid aura emanating from Seraphia operates on an entirely different ‘level’ than ice breath.
Compared to this, Gelu Drake’s ice breath might as well be warmth itself.
Kai only survived because he remained within the protective space Seraphia maintained; otherwise, he would have frozen to death long ago.
Even within that protected space, Kai found himself unable to move.
But Adrian…
“Even the Beast Lord feared The Frost Lord.”
The Lycanthrope’s eyes, consumed by terror, widened dramatically—as if questioning how Adrian could possibly know such a thing.
Then Adrian slowly revealed himself.
Adrian’s skin had already frozen pale and brittle. No breath escaped his lips—he was not breathing.
His lungs had frozen solid.
The price of stepping beyond Seraphia’s protective space and into The Frost Lord’s domain.
Yet Adrian’s gaze remained unwavering.
Sustained by transcendent willpower, pushing beyond the limits of mortality itself, Adrian forced his body forward.
At last, Adrian stood before the Lycanthrope and reached out his hand.
His fingertips were frostbitten, cracked, and tinged with a sickly blue.
Adrian’s face was contorted in agony—the terrible pain was unmistakable.
Yet with indomitable will, Adrian seized the Lycanthrope’s heart despite the suffering.
And then Adrian smiled.
“If you can, deliver a message to the Beast Lord.”
He was like a savage beast stained with black hatred itself.
“Tell him I’m coming for his heart next!”
Adrian tore the Lycanthrope’s heart from his grasp.
Crimson blood sprayed everywhere.
It froze instantly and scattered across the ground.
Hahahahahaha!!!
And then came Adrian’s maniacal laughter.
At that laughter—twisted with resentment and madness intertwined—Kai found himself trembling involuntarily.
* * *
It happened the moment I tore out the Lycanthrope’s heart.
◆You have defeated the Lycanthrope!
◆You have gained 107,506 combat experience!
◆Your level has increased!
◆Your level has increased!
◆Your level has increased!
◆Your level has increased!
Translucent messages filled my vision.
They confirmed the Lycanthrope’s death beyond doubt, and I finally allowed myself to relax.
And true to his title as Beast Legion Commander, the experience was staggering.
When I defeated Gelu Drake, I had gained roughly eight thousand experience.
But now I had obtained over one hundred thousand—proof enough that the Beast Legion Commander was no ordinary foe.
Finally, the Lycanthrope’s heart, now clenched in my hand.
This was far more than merely a Lycanthrope’s heart.
The Lycanthrope had submitted to the Beast Lord and become the Beast Legion Commander. In other words, he had been granted authority and power by the Beast Lord.
Imprinted upon the Lycanthrope’s heart were genetic factors belonging to none other than the Beast Lord.
The Beast Lord possessed the genetic factors of nearly every living creature that inhabited the Continent.
In certain respects, those genetic factors were even more formidable than those of a dragon.
And a portion of them was here, imprinted upon the heart of the Beast Legion Commander—the Lycanthrope.
But without life force, no genetic factor could be obtained.
Frozen solid by the Frost Lord’s bitter cold, time was running desperately short.
I brought the Lycanthrope’s heart to my lips without hesitation.
Crunch!
Yet it felt as though I were consuming nothing but a block of ice. I sensed no life force emanating from the heart whatsoever.
But perhaps it was thanks to the Lycanthrope’s formidable vitality.
Mercifully, he had not yet completely lost his life force.
Still, time was not on my side.
I hastily crammed the Lycanthrope’s heart into my mouth.
And just as I was chewing and swallowing the final fragment of the heart.
◆Kyiiiiiiiiiiing!!!!!
A message brimming with fanfare materialized before my eyes.

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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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