The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 67

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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 67. Infinity vs. Infinity (1)
Kai’s body had gone rigid, as though he’d been transformed into stone.
The aura that had been circulating through his entire frame suddenly felt as though it had been violently obstructed.
‘This is….’
Dragon Fear.
The supreme being who reigns over all creation—the dragon.
An overwhelming pressure, as if confronted by the very essence of a dragon itself.
Yet the figure reflected in Kai’s eyes was not a dragon, but a single human.
Adrian.
Though his appearance and form were unmistakably human, Kai perceived the visage of a dragon emanating from Adrian.
…That was it.
The primordial inferno that had obliterated the monster legion in a single stroke.
It was manifesting once more within the Infinite Labyrinth.
A savage dragon, restrained to its absolute limits.
It had finally—
—achieved its terrible liberation.
ROOOOOAAAAAARRRRR—!!!
In an instant, searing heat erupted outward—
—and crimson flames blazed forth, incinerating every scrap of flesh in all directions.
The pitch-black darkness fled in moments—
The fleshy matter coating the floor and walls ignited instantly, sizzling and charring away. The tissue, drenched in mucus and blood, boiled and burst apart.
And Kai, who had endured a direct hit from that primordial inferno before—
【SCREEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAHHHHH!!!】
—knew better than anyone how excruciating it was.
As the entire labyrinth seemed to suffocate, releasing agonized shrieks—
The flesh engulfed in flames writhed in torment, contracting and expanding like a beating heart.
Tissue dissolved into damp ash, while vaporized liquid hung suspended like a murky haze.
Embers spread in all directions.
Still burning in countless places—
【SCREEEEE!! AAAAAAHHHHH!!】
—inflicting terrible, searing agony upon Avarus.
The flesh labyrinth hastily shifted its fleshy walls to prevent further expansion.
But the raging flames had already penetrated deep within, incinerating the exposed nerves and blood vessels of the labyrinth itself.
【N-NOOOOOOOOO!!!】
Anguished screams, endless and desperate, continued to echo.
The grotesque scene reeked of burning protein, steam coiling through the air in a sickening miasma.
Among it all lay Adrian, reduced to blackened ash as though he’d been pulled from a raging inferno.
Most disturbingly, his arms were nowhere to be seen.
His shoulders had caved inward as if seared by flame, creating a grotesquely horrifying sight.
At a glance, he scarcely appeared to be alive.
No human could have survived in such conditions.
And yet.
“Hey, Kai.”
A voice so faint it was barely audible.
Kai’s eyes turned toward Adrian once more.
And.
He could see.
“Cut off some flesh and shove it into my mouth.”
…A corpse was speaking.
A corpse without both arms, thrashing and writhing about wildly.
What an utterly grotesque sight this was.
Yet Kai did not lose consciousness.
It was truly absurd, but—
Kai followed Adrian’s instruction and carved out an appropriate amount of flesh from the ground with his sword.
Avarus showed no particular reaction.
Compared to the searing agony that erupted with each passing moment, the pain of such a wound was nothing.
Squelch.
The carved flesh was cut into bite-sized pieces and brought to Adrian’s mouth—
Gulp.
Like a baby bird receiving food, he bit down on the flesh.
Munch, munch.
He ate with such fervor that the chunk of flesh vanished in an instant.
Soon Adrian’s burning arms regenerated, and from then on, he managed on his own.
Adrian sharpened his regenerated nails and brought chunks of burning flesh to his own mouth, chewing them.
Munch, munch.
“You know, cooked flesh tastes pretty decent?”
Thus.
…Day 1 in the Infinite Labyrinth came to an end.
* * *
Day 2 of being trapped in the Infinite Labyrinth.
In truth, his sense of time was so distorted that he couldn’t be certain it was actually the second day.
But that was how it felt to Kai.
And on Day 2 as well, the battle between Adrian and Avarus continued without fail.
On Day 1, Avarus had been momentarily flustered by Adrian’s flames.
But he did not simply endure the onslaught.
He wielded the Infinite Labyrinth itself as a weapon against Adrian, and thus a fierce hand-to-hand combat unfolded.
【This bastard!!!!】
Avarus roared with fury and manipulated the flesh of the labyrinth.
The tentacles, transforming into increasingly complex shapes, moved according to Avarus’s will.
Nails and teeth-like tissues were intertwined within the tentacles, and they descended upon Adrian like sharp spines and the maw of a beast.
But then.
“You think I can’t eat just because you say so?”
Adrian devoured them without hesitation.
His jaw and teeth ceaselessly masticated the muscle and tissue of the flesh mass.
Through this, Adrian regenerated his wounds in an instant and continued fighting relentlessly.
Avarus’s torn tentacles regenerated as well, and the torn tissues were reconstructed, but—
【Aaaaaaaaahhhhh!!】
Accompanying pain of equal magnitude followed.
* * *
Seven days since being trapped in the Infinite Labyrinth.
A full week had already passed since being trapped in this flesh mass.
【Grraaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!】
As always, I started the day vigorously with Avarus’s screams.
To be precise, it would be more accurate to say the screams hadn’t ceased for all seven days, but regardless.
Today, Adrian once again unleashed the primordial flames of wrath.
Whether Avarus had grown weary from seven days of close combat, it showed a brief opening, and Adrian didn’t miss that fleeting opportunity.
Thus, flames erupted from all directions.
【Grraaah—! Aaaaaaahhhhh─!!】
Avarus’s anguished screams echoed throughout the entire Labyrinth.
Adrian thrashed about with both arms ablaze.
The tentacles extended toward the defenseless Adrian, but—
Slash!
Kai swung his sword and severed all the tentacles. Then he placed the neatly cut pieces directly into Adrian’s mouth.
Once again, Adrian accepted them like a baby bird, without fail.
Munch, munch.
Despite eating for seven days straight, he showed no signs of tiring of it.
The flesh disappeared as quickly as a wink.
Watching this spectacle—
“Is that tasty?”
“Why, do you want to eat some too?”
“Not exactly….”
“If you’re curious, try it.”
Munch, munch.
“Raw is a bit much, but the cooked portions are reasonably edible.”
Adrian pointed with both arms he had already regenerated toward the flesh mass that sizzled and bubbled.
But no matter how I looked at it—
it didn’t have the appearance of something a person should eat.
Yet I couldn’t shake the sudden curiosity that arose.
Above all, even if I endured through aura, seven days without eating anything would inevitably bring hunger.
Unable to resist both curiosity and starvation, Kai cut off a small piece of the flesh mass.
And carefully placing it in my mouth, I chewed—
“Ugh—!”
Without a shred of exaggeration, I tasted exactly what “moldy dregs” would taste like.
Especially the juices bursting forth inside my mouth.
It was as though I’d been drinking the broth of a “fetid swamp boiled down.”
“Blegh—!”
…Suddenly, I found myself respecting Adrian all the more.
* * *
Day 12 of being trapped in the Infinite Labyrinth.
【Screeeeeech—! Aaaaaaaagh─!!】
As Avarus’s agonized screams echoed throughout the labyrinth once more,
Adrian lay sprawled on the ground, both arms severed.
As always, Kai carved out a portion of flesh to give to Adrian.
But then—
“Hah!”
Adrian suddenly sprang to his feet on his own?
Moreover, both his arms had already regenerated.
“…What’s this?”
“What do you mean?”
“How did you regenerate on your own?”
“Huh? Ah, I ate the ground.”
“The ground?”
I lowered my gaze.
The floor where Adrian had been lying was now deeply indented.
“This entire space is just a mass of flesh.”
“So…”
“I chewed and ate the flesh from the ground.”
“…”
“Even without arms, I still have my mouth.”
And so Adrian had now become capable of self-regeneration.
“If the Grand Mage had seen this, he would’ve fainted claiming it directly contradicts the Second Law of Energetics.”
And thus,
Kai had become unemployed on day 12.
* * *
Day 35 of being trapped in the Infinite Labyrinth.
“What’s going on? Why isn’t it regenerating?”
At some point, the severed chunks of flesh had stopped regenerating.
Had the infinite stamina and mana been a lie?
“What am I supposed to do if it won’t regenerate?”
Whoooosh—!
…Perhaps it’s simply because Adrian is a madman.
* * *
Day 51 since being trapped in the Infinite Labyrinth.
【Kyaaaagh! Gwaaaagh!!】
As always, Avarus’s screams echoed through the darkness.
“…What is that?”
Kai found himself confronted with an utterly absurd sight.
“What?”
“That mass of flesh slung over your shoulder.”
“Oh, this?”
I answered as though it were nothing remarkable.
“Exercise equipment.”
“…Pardon?”
What kind of insane nonsense was that?
“The flesh masses here have considerable weight to them.”
“So….”
“I converted them into training equipment.”
….
For a moment, my words simply ceased.
Truly… there was simply nothing to say.
* * *
Kai stood there in a daze, utterly flabbergasted.
Ignoring his stupor, I wove the tentacles into training ropes. The heavier flesh pieces I tore away and compressed into barbells and dumbbells.
The flesh masses here possessed considerable weight—perhaps they were muscles alchemically synthesized separately.
It was no wonder they were high-calorie.
Moreover, they were so incredibly tough that without dragon claws, tearing them apart would have been nearly impossible.
Because of that, they tasted absolutely dreadful, but they were perfect for use as training equipment.
Thus, the flesh barbell was complete.
‘I’ve been rather negligent with physical training lately.’
More precisely, I simply hadn’t had the time.
Between ascending to Frecce, sweeping through legions, hunting Lycanthropes, gathering medicinal materials, and countless other matters.
As a result, my current stats were—.
==「Player Information」==
[Name] – Adrian Whitewolf
[Title] – Ruler of the Northern Region
[Level] – 53
[HP] – 2,550
[MP] – 0
[Stats] – Strength: 33 Agility: 60.95(+7.95) Endurance: 24.15(+3.15) Mana: 6
[Experience] – 55.8%
My strength and stamina lagged somewhat behind my agility.
Since I planned to invest all future level-up stat points into agility, that gap would only widen further.
Stat balance was crucial in combat.
Ultimately, attack power—the ability to strike an opponent—scaled with strength, while endurance and sustained fighting capability scaled with stamina.
I lifted the flesh barbell.
The moment I did, the flesh barbell emitted an eerie sound, vibrating like a pulse.
It resisted as though still alive, fluctuating its weight against my grip.
Squelch—! Shlurrrp!
The writhing muscles of the flesh barbell were extraordinarily difficult to control with a mere 33 strength stat.
My muscle tissue overloaded and tore, but when I restored it with Regeneration [B+], the ruptured fibers knitted together even more densely.
◆Muscle fiber tissue has broken through its limit!
◆Muscle fibers are being reconstructed!
◆Strength stat increases by +4!!
And so my strength stat rose.
‘The efficiency is incredible.’
I moved into a lunge position while holding the heavy flesh barbell.
But the floor of this space was also flesh, so it offered no firmness.
The sticky muscle layer undulated as though breathing, consuming stamina at a considerable rate.
Running, sprinting, and diving movements consumed two to three times my normal stamina, so my breathing quickly grew ragged.
When I recovered it again with Regeneration [B+]—
◆Stamina has broken through its limit!
◆Stamina stat increases by +3!!
And so my stamina stat rose.
‘The efficiency is insane.’
I could raise both strength and stamina simultaneously—the efficiency was absolutely unhinged.
But perhaps from overusing Regeneration [B+]—
◆Massive nutrient depletion causes severe hunger!
Grrrrrrowwwwl…!!!
Thunder erupted from my stomach. My stamina had returned, but the intense hunger brought a dizzying vertigo.
Though my inventory was sealed, that posed no real problem.
Crunch!
As I chewed and swallowed the flesh barbell, calories surged into my system instantly.
“Wait, are you actually….”
Kai froze in place, staring at me as though I were some bizarre creature.
He seemed to regard me as far more grotesque than Avarus….
Munch munch.
What could I do about it?
Once I had devoured the entire flesh barbell—
◆Surplus Calories: 100,000 Kcal
My calorie storage had reached its maximum capacity of one hundred thousand.
And in that very moment—
【That insane bastard—!!!】
Unable to bear it any longer, Avarus—or rather, Avarus who had regained consciousness through sheer agony—erupted in fury, unleashing hundreds of colossal tentacles all at once.
From the floor, ceiling, and wall crevices, hundreds of writhing, fleshy tentacles extended outward, ensnaring and constricting me from all directions.
I gazed upon the tentacles surging toward me like waves—
◆Activating Combination Skill ‘Metabolic Overdrive[U]’!
◆Caloric Expenditure – 100,000Kcal
◆For [1,000 seconds], all of the player’s stats increase by [+100%]!
I burned through all 100,000 calories without hesitation.
Calories were abundant in my surroundings anyway.
No—abundant didn’t even begin to describe it. They were ‘infinite’.
Every single tentacle extending toward me at this very moment was nothing but calories.
◆Y-you absolute madman!!!>
Ignoring the translucent text materializing before my eyes, I hurled myself forward.
My current Agility stat, amplified by +100%, stood at 121.9
My nervous system abilities surged to extreme levels, and I perceived each of the hundreds of tentacles individually.
I swiftly deflected the tentacle descending from the ceiling first, then used the recoil to launch myself upward. Twisting mid-air, I evaded the tentacle striking at my ankles.
Spinning once more in the air—
I tore through the next advancing tentacle with Dragon’s Claw[A]—
◆You have surpassed the limits of neural transmission ability!
◆Agility stat increases by +1!
‘My Agility is rising too?’
My eyes widened involuntarily.
Calories here were infinite.
Regeneration[B+] was infinite as well.
Therefore—
‘I can grow infinitely?’

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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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