The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 66

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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 66. The Infinite Labyrinth
A barrier is a space created through magic.
And magic itself…
is the power to manipulate or influence phenomena using supernatural forces or occurrences that defy conventional understanding.
Or so one might think.
Most people regard magic as a ‘supernatural phenomenon.’
I once believed the same.
But that is decidedly incorrect.
According to The Grand Mage, hero of the Allied Forces.
-Magic is actually an entirely natural ‘phenomenon of nature.’
It is nothing more than interpreting the principles by which natural phenomena occur and artificially recreating them.
In that sense, the study of magic could be called the ‘discipline of interpretation.’
And what magical study seeks to interpret is the law and order of this world.
Therefore, magic is a ‘natural phenomenon’ created by ‘interpreting’ the world’s laws and principles.
What is required for this is mana converted into usable energy—Mana Force.
-Mana Force is a type of ‘raw material’ energy, if you will.
To kindle a fire, one needs ‘firewood’ as a raw material.
Mana Force serves that very role.
Only, it can become anything beyond mere firewood.
-A mage can manipulate Mana Force to generate various energies—heat, light, electricity, sound, and so forth.
A ball of flame hovering in empty air: Fireball.
Light that suddenly detonates: Light Boom.
Lightning that erupts in succession: Chain Lightning.
Sound waves that rupture the eardrums: Shock Wave.
Beneath these magical incantations lies firewood in altered form.
That is, Mana Force concealed within.
Therefore, though magic may appear absurd at first glance, it is in fact an entirely natural phenomenon grounded in this world’s laws.
-Just as burning firewood generates heat energy as fire.
Thus, mages cannot employ magic that defies the laws of nature.
Resurrecting the dead.
Reversing time to the past.
-Defying entropy is impossible.
And so, from a mage’s perspective, ‘Aura’ is the true magic.
The power to draw forth mere imagination and manifest it into reality.
Aura is a force that should not exist.
Yet it exists nonetheless—suddenly, unexpectedly, impossibly.
By utterly disregarding even the world’s laws, what else could it be but magic?
Yet most think the opposite.
They regard magic as supernatural, and Aura as natural.
-When reality is quite the reverse.
From this perspective, I could deduce the following.
Avarus is a ‘mage’.
One incapable of wielding the supernatural force known as aura.
Because his superior intellect had grasped that aura was fundamentally impossible to exist.
Therefore, this barrier is magic and also a ‘natural phenomenon’.
It merely uses the authority and ‘magical power’ that The Abyss Lord possesses as its raw material.
Which is why it merely appears as a supernatural phenomenon.
So when I recalled Rule 3 from the rulebook—’there is no exit in this place’—I realized something.
I could discern that all the rules in the rulebook were either false or deceptions.
Equivalent exchange is the absolute law of magic, and particularly one of the fundamental truths in alchemy.
To obtain something, one must pay a corresponding price.
To kindle a flame, there must be kindling.
If there is an entrance, there must be an exit.
Even if that exit is unreachable, or the method is nearly impossible.
Therefore, the rule that there is no exit is a deception.
Above all, the barrier’s weakness I identified through Weak Point Detection[U].
It was clearly pointing to the rulebook.
Which meant the rulebook held the means to escape the barrier.
With such doubts in mind, I examined the rules more carefully.
And I discovered something odd.
Specifically, certain words in particular sections of the rulebook’s rules were subtly different.
Or rather, the handwriting differed.
====
3. There is no exit in this place.
: If things that appear to be exits become visible,

Stop.
Do not move and ignore everything else.
====
In the third rule, “stop” was written that way.
At first, I thought it was merely emphasizing the rule’s content.
But after checking the first and second rules, I noticed there were other words whose script had been subtly altered, stained crimson with blood.
When I extracted only those words.
1. Light. Secure. You are. Trapped. Sense of direction. Distorted.
2. Structure. Move. In place.
3. Stop.
A sentence was taking shape.
So I ceased all movement and remained where I stood.
After that, an eerie pattern emerged, and the new rules also contained words whose script had been subtly altered.
4. Eerie pattern.
5. Recite. That. Moment.
7. Rulebook. Damage.
8. Rule six. Discovery.
9. Hope.
10. Existence.
When I gathered all these words and combined them into one.
====

Light
is

secured
, and

you are trapped
—you realize this fact.
After that,

your sense of direction
is

distorted
, and in this place,

The structure
I

moves,
.

remain
at

in place.
La.

Recite the strange pattern
second

to yourself.

At that moment,
to

if you damage the rulebook,
cast

the sixth rule

will be violated.
of

Discovery
was possible.
====
“Found it.”
I sharpened the dragon’s claws and tore through the rulebook.
But because the rulebook tangled with my hand, I had no choice but to sever it along with the pages.
◆Sensory nerves temporarily blocked!
◆Skill ‘Regeneration [B+]’ activated to restore damaged body!
My severed hand was restored through Regeneration [B+].
Since the power of Devouring [S+] functioned normally in this place, there was no significant problem.
The rulebook, torn apart along with my hand, scattered across the floor.
Kiiiiiiieeeeeek-!!!
The rulebook thrashed about like a living creature, unleashing a horrifying shriek.
Dark crimson blood poured from the torn pages.
It mingled with my blood, and soon inscribed a new rule upon the ground.
====
6.

Hope
exists.

Existence
confirmed.
: This place is named [Infinite Labyrinth]. The Infinite Labyrinth is a distorted dimension intertwined with the [Administrator]’s consciousness, and an entity fused with the [Administrator]. Within the Infinite Labyrinth exists [Absolute Rule], and [Absolute Rule] takes precedence over all other laws.
==[Absolute Rule]==
1. The Infinite Labyrinth’s [Absolute Rule] cannot be arbitrarily set or modified by the [Administrator].
2. The Infinite Labyrinth must necessarily have an [Administrator] in existence.
3. The Infinite Labyrinth possesses infinite (Infinite) stamina and mana, and space and time are also infinite (Infinite).
4. The Infinite Labyrinth’s [Absolute Rule] must be revealed directly by the [Administrator] in some manner.
5. Should even a single one of the Infinite Labyrinth’s [Absolute Rules] be violated, the Infinite Labyrinth will cease to exist.
====
The hidden sixth rule.
As it was revealed, ominous shapes and patterns were inscribed across the rulebook.
Between wrinkles tangled like a spider’s web, faint eyes and lips were etched, contorting grotesquely in what seemed like agony—
【Noooooooom!!!】
A voice that was nothing short of a scream shrieked at me.
【What in the world are you?!!!】
The rulebook—no, Avarus screamed in disbelief.
【How could you have escaped from that being’s authority?!】
So it truly was The Abyss Lord after all.
But then.
“What use is a fake?”
This was not the true Abyss Lord.
The Abyss Lord created by illusion magic.
It was nowhere near enough to shatter my mind.
No, even if they had brought the true Abyss Lord, it would make no difference.
◆An inexplicable, unknowable terror encounters resistance from the Player’s Will[EX]!
Ian’s ability—Player’s Will[EX].
As long as I possess it, my mind will never crumble.
【Y-yes, but how could you possibly…? No, even so, that is his divine authority! How could you possibly—!】
“That’s none of your concern.”
With this, I had found a way to escape the barrier.
By exploiting the [Absolute Rules].
Absolute Rule 2: The Infinite Labyrinth must necessarily have an [Administrator].
Absolute Rule 5: Should even a single Absolute Rule be violated, the Infinite Labyrinth ceases to exist.
In other words, eliminate the Administrator, and the Infinite Labyrinth vanishes.
And I could discern who the Administrator was without needing to be told.
This was precisely why the weakness of the barrier detected by Weak Point Detection[U] took the form of a rulebook.
I drove power into my thighs and launched myself from the ground.
Sharpening Dragon’s Claws[A], I raked them across Avarus, who had taken the form of a rulebook.
Chunks of Avarus’s flesh tore away with a sickening crunch.
【Krkrkrkuk! Do you comprehend where you are?】
Avarus did not meet death.
【This is the Infinite Labyrinth, created by his divine authority!】
Absolute Rule 3: The Infinite Labyrinth possesses infinite (Infinite) stamina and mana, and its space and time are likewise infinite (Infinite).
And the Infinite Labyrinth is a being fused with its Administrator.
【No matter how much you wretches struggle, it will avail you nothing!】
This meant Avarus’s stamina and mana were also infinite.
Shhhhwoooop—!
Sharp tentacles burst forth from the crevices of the fleshy wall.
The tentacle tips bristled with parasitic protrusions that sucked in everything they adhered to.
It was then.
“If you’d warned me beforehand, would that have changed anything?!”
Kai, who had been observing every rule of the situation from the side, leaped into action.
Having grasped how the situation was unfolding, his movements were fluid and without hesitation.
In an instant, he carved through the flesh, positioning himself flush against my side.
“Do you have a method?”
As expected, Kai also understood there was no straightforward way to kill Avarus.
Of course, Kai himself did not die, thanks to his Dependent Immortality[E] ability.
But even that was not infinite.
When aura is depleted, immortality fades.
And I was no exception.
I possessed Regeneration [B+], but calories were finite.
In that sense, my current accumulated calories were….
◆Surplus Calories: 13,551Kcal
Roughly thirteen thousand calories.
Before entering the barrier, I’d used Metabolic Overdrive [U] and Regeneration [B+], leaving me nearly depleted.
◆Error: Inventory is not responding.
And still, the inventory refused to respond.
I couldn’t consume the calories stored in my inventory.
Infinite and finite.
【You will all rot and die here! Trapped in the Infinite Labyrinth, becoming His sacrifice!!】
Avarus’s victory was all but assured.
From the moment we entered the mage’s domain, our defeat was essentially predetermined.
But then.
There was one fact Avarus didn’t know.
The fleshy tentacles reached out again.
I tore off a handful with my Dragon’s Claw [A].
And shoving it straight into my mouth, I bit down—.
Crunch!
An indescribable taste flooded my mouth.
Setting aside the squishy texture, the flavor was utterly vile.
How could I even describe this taste….
Munch, munch.
If I had to be honest, it tasted like “chewing rotten mud.”
Of course, I’d never actually eaten rotten mud.
If it had calories, I’d consider trying it, but mud yielded almost no calories, so I had no intention of eating it in the future.
But you know that feeling, don’t you?
In that sense, the meat juices that burst out each time I crushed the heart…should I call it that.
“Ugh—!”
This tasted like boiled festering mud soup—absolutely revolting.
“Blech—!”
…This thing wasn’t going to sell.
Market value: zero.
I was reminded once again that monsters from Snowy Mountain were truly the finest.
Still, I forced it down my throat somehow.
◆Calories +5,210Kcal accumulated.
The message appeared before my eyes.
Surprisingly, it was high in calories.
I’d expected the flesh to have calories, but I never imagined a single handful would yield a full 5,210kcal.
What… what…?!
Avarus’s eyes flew open in shock.
Or rather, something that resembled eyes widened dramatically.
Kai was not much different.
“….”
Beside me, he wore an expression as though he’d bitten into an insect—the look of someone observing a creature far more repulsive than Avarus himself.
Both ally and enemy alike were regarding me with utter revulsion.
…Strictly speaking, Kai was also an enemy, but regardless.
I casually ignored the two of them and once again tore into the wall’s flesh with the dragon’s claw, chewing ravenously.
What… what are you doing?! AAAHHHHH!!!
Avarus shrieked in agony.
I turned toward Avarus and gestured with my chin as I spoke.
“Kai.”
“….”
“You see him right now?”
“….”
“Answer me.”
“…What exactly are you referring to?”
“He’s in pain.”
“Well, that’s true, but… ah!”
Kai’s eyes widened as he grasped the meaning behind my words.
According to Rule 6, the Infinite Labyrinth is a being fused with Avarus.
A distorted dimension intertwined with Avarus’s very consciousness.
In other words, damaging the Infinite Labyrinth meant Avarus experienced that pain directly.
Every scream I’d heard whenever I damaged the walls or floor—it had all been Avarus’s screams.
Of course, according to the Infinite Labyrinth’s absolute rules, Avarus’s stamina and mana were infinite.
But his mental fortitude was not.
Meanwhile, I too possessed infinite stamina by consuming Avarus’s flesh for calories.
However, unfortunately for him.
◆An inexplicable primal terror resists the player’s will [EX]!
My mental fortitude was also infinite.
Then.
What would happen if I inflicted infinite suffering upon Avarus?
My regeneration [B+] ability could negate pain.
But Avarus had no such luxury.
How far could Avarus’s mind truly endure?
“Kai, don’t intervene. Maintain the light with your aura.”
◆Surplus Calories: 100,000 Kcal
The accumulated threshold of storable calories I’d amassed.
The taste was grotesque, but the caloric efficiency was absolutely insane.
If it were possible, I’d want to put Avarus in my inventory and raise him like a pet.
I burned through 100,000 calories all at once.
The synthesized explosive substances within my body proliferated uncontrollably, spreading throughout me, accompanied by searing heat and energy that radiated across every fiber of my being.
Boom boom boom boom boom—!!
My body erupted in violent turmoil, every cell igniting simultaneously.
Towering infernos surged across my entire frame.
Whoooooosh—!!!
Using myself as kindling, an ancient flame demon of eons past blazed forth.
An overwhelming power beyond comprehension.
It condensed and condensed and condensed again in both my arms—
The awakening of a raging dragon’s might.
“This exhilaration is something I never felt from The Abyss Lord!”
◆Activating Composite Skill ‘Dragon Rage Explosion [E]’!
I thrust both hands forward toward the terrified Avarus.

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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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