The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 81

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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 81. Chaos (2)
The night of Violess was deeper and darker than any other district in the city.
Yet Violess’s night awakened more brilliantly—though with a sordid undertone.
Red light staining the alleys.
A pleasure district where coarse laughter and lewd cries never ceased.
The Red Light District.
Brothels lined every alley and street of the Red Light District, their fronts adorned with women in gaudy attire, beckoning passersby inside with inviting gestures.
And among them, the most resplendent establishment.
With its antiquated facade enhanced by lavish decorations, it resembled nothing so much as a grand manor where nobility dwelt.
“Please, I’m sorry! I won’t do it again!”
A naked woman was dragged out from within the manor by brutish men.
“I—wait, I don’t know what came over me! I swear I won’t do it again, please…!!”
The woman pleaded desperately, but the men paid her no heed.
Soon they hurled her to the ground and began beating her savagely.
Thwack! Crack!
Her pale skin, caked with heavy makeup, quickly bruised, and her crimson lips swelled and darkened further with blood.
Crack! Thwack! Crack!
Still, the men showed no sign of stopping.
By the time the naked woman was covered in bruises so severe her face was unrecognizable—
“Enough.”
A voice echoed from within the manor.
Only then did the men cease their beating and step back, as another woman emerged from the building.
Hair the color of blood.
A bewitching beauty that stirred desire itself.
The crimson jewel adorning her neck accentuated her alluring neckline and voluptuous figure.
“M-Madam…”
Lyla, the matriarch of the Crimson Soiree that ruled the Red Light District.
The bloodied woman crawled along the ground, beseeching Lyla.
“Please… forgive me…”
Lyla walked slowly toward the woman and—crack!
Slapped her across the face.
The woman’s cheek split as if struck by a whip—
“Who taught you to refuse a customer’s choice?”
Crack! Crack!
Lyla continued striking both sides of the woman’s face without hesitation.
Several more blows were exchanged.
Soon, only the sound of blood gurgling—”Ugh! Gck!”—emanated from the woman.
Only then did Lyla shake the woman’s blood from her hand with irritation.
“Take her away and make sure she learns her lesson properly.”
The men dragged away the unconscious woman.
And that was precisely when it happened.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Crash!!
A deafening explosion erupted alongside a blinding flash of light.
A colossal blast that seemed to shake all of Violess.
“Madam.”
Vister of the Crimson Soiree approached Lyla from behind.
“What is the situation?”
“Sarpedon has been confirmed to be currently in the Gambling District.”
Sarpedon, the patriarch of the Black Grasp who controlled the Gambling District.
“The attack on the Black Market does not appear to be the work of the Black Grasp.”
“Hmm….”
Lyla’s long, slender fingers traced her lips.
Blood she hadn’t quite wiped away stained her lips an even deeper crimson.
“Then who could it be?”
“It appears that small-time Visters from across Violess have formed an alliance, but—”
“No.”
Lyla shook her head decisively.
The Ashen Mask of the Black Market was no trivial force—how could they be overwhelmed by some petty alliance of small-time Visters?
Small fry, no matter how many gather, remain small fry.
If they could be defeated by such insignificant rabble, it would have happened long ago.
This was nothing more than lesser monsters claiming dominion over a mountain range abandoned by its ogre king.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Crash!!
Another explosion erupted at that very moment.
It was far more violent than before.
It was clear the Black Market was not mounting a proper defense—they were being overwhelmed helplessly.
“This is not ordinary.”
Lyla’s eyes flashed with sudden intensity.
“What of the Black Grasp?”
“Thus far, there have been no significant movements, but….”
Her subordinate swallowed once before continuing.
“Given that the executives and affiliated Visters are all converging on the Gambling District, it appears they will move soon.”
“They’re going all-in?”
“What shall we do?”
Her subordinate’s question followed.
Lyla’s deliberation was brief.
* * *
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Crash!!!
An explosion erupted the moment I arrived at the Black Market.
The deafening blast, accompanied by a tremendous roar, shook not only the Black Market but all of Violess itself.
‘Isolde is really tearing things up, it seems.’
In any case.
“This way.”
The Black Market’s vault—where I arrived following Aketa.
Accessing it required considerable complicated procedures, but I passed through without any issues whatsoever.
And then the massive, thick vault door swung open—
The Continent’s standard gold and silver coins filled my entire field of vision.
A sight I had witnessed in Avarus’s secret vault.
It was overwhelmingly incomparable to that.
“These are funds laundered through Obscura.”
Obscura.
In simple terms, it referred to the ‘method’ and ‘place’ through which the Dark Merchant Company laundered money.
The Dark Merchant Company accumulated vast sums of capital through various Black Markets across the Continent.
But those were funds earned through illegal activities.
In other words, dirty money, and if the Dark Merchant Company spent it recklessly, there was a risk of being traced.
Therefore, it was necessary to launder it into legitimate funds, and Obscura was the place that performed that role.
And Violess was one of the Dark Merchant Company’s major strongholds.
It operated its own Obscura, and the wealth piled before my eyes was laundered revenue earned in Violess—
‘Over 100 million Gold easily.’
This was still the ‘minimum.’
I would need to count it to know the exact amount.
And right then.
“This is terrible!!”
Aketa, wearing the Ashen Mask, suddenly came rushing in breathlessly—
“Right now…! The Black Grasp is attacking the Cult!!”
“What did you say…?!”
Aketa, an Evangelista-class operative, leaped to his feet.
“That’s not all…!”
Aketa, who had been reporting, swallowed once before continuing.
“Small groups of Vister in Violess have also formed an alliance and are attacking the Cult!”
“What does that mean…!!”
Evangelista-class Aketa appeared to be nearly panicking in shock.
The Black Grasp and the Vister alliance.
Even the Dark Merchant Company could not ignore such military strength.
But—
‘The Crimson Soiree hasn’t made a move.’
Were they being cautious?
Or did they have some other hidden agenda?
‘Hmm.’
I couldn’t tell which it was yet.
But it seemed certain that the Crimson Soiree had no intention of stepping forward right now.
A course of action different from what I’d anticipated.
Yet it was acceptable.
Variables were bound to emerge during operations, and this deviation fell well within the scope of predictable contingencies.
‘The timeline has grown slightly tighter.’
Still, the operation proceeded according to plan.
“Didn’t I tell you? The Black Market’s assault was merely a distraction.”
“Indeed…!!”
Aketa finally seemed to grasp my meaning, his admiration evident.
He harbored not the slightest suspicion that I was orchestrating chaos; instead, he placed his complete faith in me—bordering on veneration.
“I shall safeguard these funds until the situation stabilizes.”
“Understood.”
Aketa appeared ready to step back—
“…Pardon? You said you would ‘safeguard’ the funds, not ‘relocate’ them?”
“When would I even have time to move such an enormous sum? Who knows what might happen during the transfer?”
“That is true, but still, how could you possibly manage all of this alone, Executor—”
His question never reached its conclusion.
◆You store ‘Stack of Gold Coins’ in your inventory.
As I opened my inventory and swept the coins inside, Aketa leaped backward in shock.
“Spatial magic…?!”
To others, the inventory appeared as nothing more than spatial magic.
And Avarus was both an alchemist and a high-level mage.
Therefore, my overt use of the inventory raised no suspicion whatsoever—
“But you’re in a Transmogrified state… how is this even…?”
Transmogrification perfectly mimicked its target form.
It replicated appearance, characteristics, abilities, and even consciousness with such fidelity that wielding one’s original power became extraordinarily difficult.
This was why Avarus had struggled to cast magic while transformed into Baron Beneron.
In other words, advanced spatial magic was nearly impossible to manifest while Transmogrified.
“Spatial magic of this caliber while your mana is restricted?!!”
Aketa’s eyes behind his mask widened to their limits—
“You truly are remarkable, Executor!!”
Between those widened eyes, his reverence for me flourished abundantly.
Never once did he suspect that wealth was being systematically plundered.
He was absolutely certain I was Avarus, after all.
I swept the remaining assets into my inventory without hesitation.
◆You store ‘Stack of Gold Coins’ in your inventory.
◆You store ‘Stack of Gold Coins’ in your inventory.
◆You store ‘Stack of Gold Coins’ in your inventory.
.
.
.
Truly, an endless stream of wealth being stored away.
“H-how is that even…!!”
“Uwaaaaah!!”
Each time, the shock that washed over Aketa and his men intensified.
The sheer volume far exceeded what could be stored through spatial magic alone.
I had no doubt that even The Grand Mage of the Allied Forces could not conjure a dimensional space capable of holding this much wealth.
In other words, without an infinite inventory, there would be no way to manage it.
And so I could sweep every last piece of treasure into my inventory without the slightest constraint.
“I’m heading out now to stop the Black Market’s attackers. The rest of you return to your assigned sectors and provide support.”
“Yes!!”
“Yes!!”
Aketa and his men responded with vigor.
In their eyes fixed upon me burned unmistakable reverence.
Yet when all the truth came to light, the hatred and fury directed at me would burn just as fiercely.
Perhaps that was why.
Now, thinking back on it quietly…
‘The Imperial soldiers would gnash their teeth whenever they laid eyes on me.’
They ground them so relentlessly, it was a wonder any remained.
* * *
Crash!!
A raucous commotion that jolted Violess awake in the night.
But contrary to Iratum’s expectation that the disturbance would quickly subside, the chaos continued for quite some time—
“…?”
Iratum still could not fathom what situation was unfolding.
The place where Iratum currently stood.
The Ruins District.
The Ruins District was a region formed by Visters who had been pushed out in factional struggles and could no longer set foot in Violess.
An abandoned sector even within Violess itself.
Primarily inhabited by the homeless and the infirm, the vast majority were vagrants with no connections.
It was the perfect place to procure the hundred homunculus materials that Avarus had requested.
Thus, Iratum had come to the Ruins District personally and was selecting slaves one by one.
There was no need to do it himself, but with a hundred people, the situation was different.
If that many suddenly disappeared?
The people around them would find it suspicious and file a report.
Covering it up and silencing witnesses required considerable resources and manpower, so Iratum’s personal involvement was necessary.
Naturally, the process was exceedingly tedious and distasteful, but—
‘He said he’d help me find the Valley of Kardun.’
Iratum suppressed the rising fury within him as he selected homeless individuals and patients suitable for use as homunculi.
And when he had selected roughly fifty people.
Crash!!
I could finally perceive the raucous commotion awakening the night of Violess.
At first, I paid it little mind.
In Violess, power struggles between Vister’s factions erupted nearly every day.
Crash!!
When the second disturbance echoed, I assumed it would soon subside.
Crash crash!!
By the third commotion, irritation began to simmer.
“They’re making quite the racket.”
Crash crash crash!!
When the fourth disturbance erupted, genuine anger welled up within me.
“These bastards….”
But then came the fifth.
Crash crash crash!!
An extraordinary explosion reverberated through all of Violess—
“Tonight! The true absolute power of Violess is born! Is everyone ready!!”
“Yes, Boss!!”
“Then we begin! Push forward without mercy!!!”
Only after witnessing the Vister faction’s riot advancing into Violess like an army—
“…What is this disturbance?”
I could sense something was amiss.
This hardly seemed like a typical power struggle between Vister’s factions.
The scale of this commotion was extraordinary.
“I shall go investigate at once.”
One of the Aketa hurried off to scout the situation.
But then.
“…?”
Not a word came back.
“Then I shall go and investigate.”
Another Aketa ventured forth—
“…??”
The same silence returned.
“I shall go and bring back word.”
And then another.
“This time, I shall—”
And another after that.
Like sacrifices sent into The Abyss, none of them returned—
“???”
For some reason, I alone felt abandoned.

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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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