The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 78

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 78. The Saint of the Allied Forces (2)
Isolde hurtled toward me at a terrifying velocity.
The torn flesh beneath her arm had completely healed, but her clothes had not.
The smooth, pale skin of her armpit lay exposed.
Yet Isolde—she was something else.
Whiiiiing—!
She paid it no mind whatsoever.
Then again, Isolde was not the type to be diminished by shame. Of course, she was not entirely without embarrassment.
She simply understood with perfect clarity what mattered most.
She was not the Allied Forces’ greatest asset and commander of the Holy Command for nothing.
The roiling holy power subsided. Condensed holy power.
It engulfed her gauntlets, and a tremendous force erupted outward.
Holy Fist Arts. Valencian style.
Radiant Strike.
I knew this technique.
Created long ago by a Valencian saint, it concentrated holy power into the fist to deliver a devastating blow.
The crux of this technique lay in detonating the condensed holy power.
If I tried to evade?
I risked being caught in a far larger blast radius.
Therefore, I could not dodge.
…I had to receive it before it detonated.
I had to receive it.
◆Combination Skill ‘Dragon’s Skin [U]’ activated!
Crunch!
Blood gushed between my clenched teeth.
Fortunately, I received the blow before the holy power detonated.
As a result, Isolde’s arm muscles were completely torn from unleashing the Holy Fist Arts.
Her arm hung limp and stretched.
It laid bare her inexperience with the Holy Fist Arts.
…The opening was now!
As I swung Dragon’s Claw, Isolde immediately performed a backflip and retreated. I resisted the urge to pursue.
Instead, I seized the opportunity to pull an oil canister from my inventory.
The moment Isolde’s feet touched the ground, her torn arm had already healed.
And seeing me gulp down the oil I’d retrieved from my inventory—
She charged at me again without hesitation.
‘Damn it.’
I hurled the half-empty canister away.
‘A war of attrition favors me poorly.’
My caloric intake was finite.
Of course, my infinite inventory held more than enough oil—an abundance of it—but I had no time to consume it all.
Not when Isolde was watching me like this.
I could create openings and consume sustenance in fragments, but the amount I could take in was negligible.
Crash! Boom!
Compared to the calories I was burning, what I could replenish was nowhere near enough.
And that was because merely defending against Isolde’s attacks—
◆Skill ‘Regeneration [B+]’ is activated.
◆Large amounts of nutrients are consumed to regenerate the damaged body.
Calories were draining away in chunks.
And once my calories were completely depleted, Regeneration [B+] would no longer be possible.
Of course, the same applied to Isolde.
Her recovery would also become impossible if her holy power was exhausted, but the problem was that Isolde’s holy power was virtually ‘infinite’.
The source of Isolde’s holy power.
It was the faith and wishes of the citizens of the Holy Kingdom.
The citizens of the Holy Kingdom believed in Isolde, the Saint, as ‘God’s representative’.
Her ability—the Vessel That Holds All Things [M]—could contain all the faith and wishes of those citizens.
Its rank was nothing less than Mythical [M].
Considering the absurdity of Infinite [M], one could understand just how broken this ability truly was.
Crack!
Suddenly, a loud sound erupted from every muscle in my body.
Muscles incompletely regenerated by Regeneration [B+].
The speed of Regeneration [B+] couldn’t keep pace with the injuries inflicted by Isolde’s attacks.
Each of Isolde’s strikes was a killing blow.
And Isolde unleashed such attacks upon me without the slightest hesitation.
That didn’t mean Isolde relied solely on brute strength.
Far from it.
Isolde’s swift movements were completely invisible to the naked eye.
Still, my extremely heightened agility—
A sense bordering on ESP allowed me to somehow evade Isolde’s attacks, but—
‘Evasion alone won’t cut it.’
I had to ‘suppress’ Isolde.
…Could I do it?
‘Don’t doubt yourself.’
I cast aside the uncertainty.
I am strong enough.
In my past life, I could never match her, but that was merely the past.
Through Ian’s ability, Solo Leveling [EX], hadn’t I achieved tremendous growth?
No matter how strong Isolde was, she couldn’t compare to Ian.
Even the Isolde of the Allied Forces, incomparably stronger than she is now, couldn’t surpass Ian.
She barely reached the tips of Ian’s feet.
I hadn’t even reached Ian’s feet, but—
‘Not now.’
It wasn’t merely because I possessed Ian’s abilities.
My ability, Predation [S+].
The power of Predation [S+] that I had failed to properly utilize in my past life.
Currently, I wielded and controlled that ability with absolute perfection—
Once, Ian had spoken to me.
—I can never become like you.
That Ian could never become like me.
Moreover, that even dragons could never become like me.
—Adrian, you are ‘the apex of all living beings’.
The ultimate predator, the Predator.
—Only your predatory power can touch that apex.
The ultimate lifeform.
—How could mere humans and dragons ever compare to the ‘ultimate lifeform’?
Though contrary to Ian’s expectations, I ultimately could not stand at that apex—
Though I could not transcend the limitation of being merely a hunter—
◆Composite Skill ‘Metabolic Overdrive [U]’ activated!
◆Caloric consumption – 50,000 Kcal
◆All player stats increase by [+50%] for [500 seconds]!
Now, the true instincts of the Predator awakened fully.
* * *
Isolde faced Adrian—
Or more precisely, the Dark Merchant Company executive wearing Adrian’s visage—
‘Something is off.’
She couldn’t shake the sense of wrongness.
First of all.
Adrian’s wound recovery speed was extraordinary.
He didn’t appear to be using any elixir or potion.
Not an elixir, not a potion, but… oil?
Isolde’s eyes briefly glanced downward.
That liquid spilled across the floor.
It was definitely oil.
And it was pitch-black waste oil at that.
Adrian was gulping it down, instantly healing his wounds.
A power closer to regeneration than healing.
One could boldly claim it rivaled the recovery of Holy power.
Yet Adrian was not channeling Holy power.
An enigmatic force of unknown origin—it only deepened Isolde’s conviction that Adrian was indeed a member of the Dark Merchant Company.
However, secondly.
‘He knows Holy Fist Technique.’
Adrian knew of the Holy Martial Art for reasons beyond comprehension.
It wasn’t merely that he knew its name—he understood the techniques and principles behind the Holy Martial Art itself.
That made no sense.
The Holy Martial Art was a combat technique devised by successive Saints of the Holy Kingdom to stand against darkness.
Designed to effectively channel holy power in close combat, each technique bore the name of its creator.
Through generation after generation, its shortcomings were refined and supplemented.
Across two hundred and thirteen generations spanning thousands of years, it had evolved into a perfected martial discipline.
In other words, only a Saint could know or practice the Holy Martial Art.
Which meant—
Could Adrian possibly be a Saint?
That was even more absurd.
Adrian wasn’t channeling holy power at all.
Which brought me to the third and final possibility.
Adrian’s crimson eyes now fixed upon me.
When I met those eyes burning with maddening ferocity—
‘Ah.’
Every hair on my body stood on end.
Something different emanated from Adrian now.
Distinctly different from moments before.
Like encountering humanity’s apex predator.
Or rather, something that reigned supreme over all living creatures—the sensation one experiences when facing such a presence—
Primordial terror of life itself.
Though I felt it only briefly,
I could perceive my own overwhelming helplessness in that instant.
My entire body stiffened, refusing to obey my will.
Whoosh—!
The sound of wind cutting through air. Adrian had closed the distance in a heartbeat.
Movement entirely different from before.
Beyond imagination itself.
I desperately threw a right punch, but Adrian’s foot swept toward my abdomen first.
Boom—!
I regained balance mid-flight, spinning my body in a full rotation. Startled, but not beyond recovery.
I concentrated holy power at my feet in mid-air.
Then I twisted my waist and spun.
As I released the concentrated holy power—
Holy light burst forth from my feet.
It scattered like petals, sweeping across the space before me.
Holy Martial Art. Malenia Style.
Blossom Pulsus.
But I didn’t stop there.
I channel holy power into my gauntlets and unleash a barrage of consecutive punches, detonating them in rapid succession.
Holy Fist Technique. Bianca’s style.
Holy Purge Assault.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom—CRASH!!
A searing pain, as though my hands are being torn apart.
No—they actually are being torn apart.
And yet—.
Adrian plowed through the explosion with his bare body, without a moment’s hesitation.
Then came Adrian’s bizarre movements.
It was as if Adrian possessed no joints at all.
When Adrian finally extended his hand forward—.
CRASH—!!
Adrian’s hand collided with my gauntlet. Force against force. Neither gives ground. Adrian presses forward.
A silent movement.
Adrian boldly exposed one shoulder, and tore through my abdomen.
Whoosh—! Rip—!
The simultaneous sounds of rupture and tearing flesh.
A dizzying agony that strikes the mind itself.
I had forgotten, for a moment.
That Adrian could fight just as I do.
“Ugh…!”
A groan escaped through my clenched teeth. Holy power can mend any wound, but it cannot erase the pain.
Adrian, on the other hand—.
Moved without hesitation.
By the measure of injury alone, Adrian’s wounds are worse. The loss of his entire shoulder blade borders on a mortal wound.
He should collapse from agony at any moment.
Yet Adrian didn’t even furrow his brow.
Shrieeek—!
Instead, he tears through the air and charges forward.
Adrian’s forearm hurtles toward me. But upon closer inspection, it wasn’t his forearm at all.
The remnants of Adrian’s shoulder that had just exploded away.
Though merely a severed piece, it retained all of Adrian’s physical capabilities.
In other words, Adrian was wielding his own body parts as weapons.
Even I cannot do that.
A combat style I have never experienced before. Is such a thing even possible?
There is no madness quite like this.
I flinch and retreat in shock.
Adrian seizes that fleeting gap.
Riiip—!
My chest plate tears away completely. Only the cloth binding my torso barely conceals my skin, yet I press on regardless.
Adrian paid no attention either.
His crimson eyes remained fixed on my every movement, unwavering and precise.
…I couldn’t seize the momentum.
I lunged forward, suppressing the searing pain that felt like my insides were being torn apart.
For now, it’s manageable.
Crash!
Holy power erupting at close range. Mounting resistance pushing back against me.
Adrian didn’t evade.
His crimson eyes, gleaming with radiance, continued to track my movements.
He chose to meet the attack head-on rather than dodge.
Was he trying to decide the outcome right here?
Dragging out the fight wouldn’t serve me well either. I matched his counterattack.
But then.
…Could I actually win?
Suddenly, that doubt crept in.
No matter how I analyzed it, I couldn’t convince myself of victory.
Yet among all the opponents I’d faced until now, had any ever made me feel this kind of dread?
Unequivocally, no.
Holy power wrapped around my gauntlets, radiant and pure.
As I shook off my hesitation and drove my fist forward—
Boom! Crack!
My recovered lower abdomen tore open once more.
And Adrian’s regenerated shoulder burst apart again.
But this time, doubt struck me harder than pain.
‘Why didn’t he target my heart?’
Hesitation? Reluctance? Or perhaps inexperience?
I couldn’t say for certain.
Yet Adrian had just refrained from aiming at my heart.
Regardless of success, wouldn’t targeting the heart have been most effective just now?
As I swallowed that question, it happened.
“Executor!!”
A booming voice echoed from somewhere nearby.
And emerging into view was Vister of the Ashen Mask, a member of the Dark Merchant Company.
…We’d made far too much noise.
No matter how lawless the Lawless City was, no matter how deserted this alley seemed, a commotion of this magnitude couldn’t escape notice.
That’s why I’d tried to avoid prolonging the fight, but Adrian proved far stronger than anticipated.
Adrian alone was already overwhelming. I certainly couldn’t handle the Ashen Mask as well.
If I were captured here, everything would be finished.
This was the Lawless City—a place where people died nearly every day, yet no one cared.
Capture meant the end. I had to escape immediately.
But would Adrian simply stand by and watch?
“Executor! Are you alright?!”
Vister of the Ashen Mask approached in an instant.
It was precisely when Isolde was squeezing out her holy power.
“3 AM. Shadow Alley.”
Adrian’s voice suddenly pierced through the chaos.
By then, Adrian had donned a mask that covered even his head.
He turned his body toward the approaching Vister of the Ashen Mask and reached out his hand—
Crack—!
He tore out Vister’s heart in one motion.
Vister died without understanding what had happened.
His face and expression bore the question of “Why…?”—
Only then could Isolde comprehend the truth.
“Hurry!”
…That she had been harboring a grave misunderstanding all along.
* * *
That was genuinely close.
◆Surplus Calories – 520Kcal
My calorie reserves were nearly depleted.
A couple more clashes and I would have been finished.
I had nearly died trying to subdue Isolde.
So I was actually considering retreat when, by fortunate timing, Aketa of the Ashen Mask arrived.
Through that, I seemed to have cleared up the misunderstanding—
—It’s over here!
—The signal came from here!
But everything was far from over.
Soon, Aketa and the other members of the Ashen Mask would come flooding in.
I confirmed that Isolde was moving to safety, then rendered the Aketa whose heart I’d torn out completely unidentifiable.
Then I pulled oil from my inventory and gulped it down greedily.
After that, I tore flesh and blood from my own body and scattered it everywhere.
In an instant, the scene transformed into what appeared to be a massacre.
Shortly after, Aketa and his companions came flooding into the scene—
“Those Black Grasp bastards came seeking retaliation against me.”
I crafted a plausible scenario based on the actual events that had transpired.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————