The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 89

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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 89. Misalignment
The fanfare of a passage that seemed to have gone berserk.
The fanfare as if I had learned a transcendent skill.
‘No clear experience points, then.’
Separate from that, there were no clear experience points.
It seemed that Hidden Quests operated under a different reward system than ordinary quests.
Still, the rewards were substantial enough—
‘Let me check the title first.’
I first examined the title 【Sovereign of the Underworld】 obtained as an additional reward.
==【Sovereign of the Underworld】==
[Acquisition Condition] – Conquered the Underworld
[Effect 1] – Targets instinctively feel fear from the darkness charisma emanating from the player. Success rate of negotiation, intimidation, and persuasion increases by [+250%].
[Effect 2] – The player detects light sources in the surrounding area and applies the [Blessing of Darkness] effect when the brightness of the light source is below 0.2lux.
==[Blessing of Darkness]==
: The player becomes one with darkness, and all noise is reduced by [-99%] during movement.
Lux was a unit for measuring the brightness of light.
According to the Allied Forces’ Grand Mage—
—The brightness around when a bright full moon rises is approximately 0.25lux.
Therefore, 0.2lux fell on the considerably dark side.
In simple terms, the effect only activated ‘in the dead of night.’
That is, while the activation condition was demanding—
‘This is excellent.’
The effect obtained when satisfying that demanding condition was extraordinary.
For infiltration, ambush, and assassination operations, nothing could be better.
Moreover, the increased success rate of negotiation, intimidation, and persuasion could serve as a significant advantage depending on how one utilized it.
And this was merely an ‘additional reward,’ as the saying goes.
The true reward of the Hidden Quest lay elsewhere.
‘Ian’s Journal, no less….’
I was deeply curious about what contents it might contain.
There was no reason to deliberately waste time.
I immediately opened [Ian’s Journal].
◆Error: [Ian’s Journal] cannot be accessed.
But an error message appeared?
◆Error: An item conflicting with [Ian’s Journal] exists.
◆Error: Main Quest [Find the Hero!] and [Ian’s Journal] conflict.
◆[Ian’s Journal] access condition has been changed to ‘prior completion of Main Quest [Find the Hero!]’.
In simple terms, I could not access [Ian’s Journal] unless I cleared the Main Quest [Find the Hero!].
‘What does that even mean?’
Because if I cleared the Main Quest, there would be no need to access [Ian’s Journal].
The Main Quest’s clear condition was to find Ian.
By then, there would be no need to consult Ian’s journal at all.
If I had questions, I could simply ask Ian directly—that would be the end of it.
What meaning could a pre-clear possibly have—?
‘…Wait.’
A thought suddenly flickered across my mind.
I examined the error message that had surfaced earlier with careful attention.
And as I pondered this notion of a ‘collision,’ I could arrive at a singular question.
‘Ian had tried to hand everything over to me.’
I still hadn’t heard the reason why.
Yet Ian had certainly attempted to transfer everything of his to me.
Judging from that perspective.
The Hidden Quest reward, [Ian’s Journal].
‘Circumstantially, it’s highly likely a message Ian intended to leave for me.’
Perhaps it contains the reason why Ian tried to hand everything over to me.
Or perhaps it contains the reason he regretted killing Seraphia.
There was also the possibility it addressed both matters.
In other words, Ian had arranged it so that I would learn the reason through [Ian’s Journal] and decide my future course of action accordingly.
But then.
A variable emerged.
‘The regression ability wasn’t transferred to me completely.’
As a result, Ian also returned to the past alongside me.
A misalignment.
Because of that misalignment, a Quest that should never have existed was generated.
Namely, the Main Quest, [Find the Hero!].
Had the regression ability been transferred to me in full, [Find the Hero!] should not have occurred.
It would be more accurate to say it could not have occurred.
Ian would not exist on the Continent.
Though an entity named Ian might exist, an Ian stripped of all memories and abilities was not truly Ian.
Yet Ian returned to the past with me, and because of that misalignment, the [Find the Hero!] Quest was generated.
That’s why they ‘collided.’
[Ian’s Journal] and [Find the Hero!].
Two things that should never have occurred together had manifested simultaneously.
Which means.
‘Ian definitely returned to the past with me.’
Now there was no room for doubt.
Ian had returned to the past with me.
Ian currently exists somewhere on the Continent.
Yet the reason Ian hasn’t revealed himself to me.
I could consider two major possibilities for that.
First, Ian doesn’t know that I’ve returned to the past.
It was the only possibility I had been considering until now.
But a second possibility had emerged.
‘What if he’s deliberately hiding himself?’
The possibility that Ian was deliberately concealing his presence from me.
It seemed absurd at first, but—
‘The Emperor is searching for Ian.’
According to the information I obtained from Iratum, The Emperor was searching for Ian.
I didn’t know why or for what reason he was searching for him.
But the fact that The Emperor was searching for Ian.
The Emperor wouldn’t be searching for Ian without cause.
Therefore, The Emperor searching for Ian meant—
‘Ian is deliberately drawing The Emperor’s attention?’
In other words, there was a possibility he was drawing aggro.
What if he was ensuring The Emperor couldn’t turn his gaze toward me?
What if he was using the variable of our return to the past as an opportunity instead?
Even if Ian knew I had returned to the past, he could deliberately hide himself from me.
Because only Lone Leveling [EX] and Player’s Will [EX] were certainly passed on to me.
The ultimate lifeform Ian had spoken of long ago.
The pinnacle of all life that only my Predation [S+] ability could reach.
Even without regression, since those two abilities were passed on to me, Ian must have judged that I could be reborn as the ultimate lifeform.
Therefore, Ian was drawing aggro himself to buy me time to grow, hiding my existence from The Emperor, and making it easier for me to operate.
That was the second possibility for why Ian wasn’t revealing himself.
‘Hmm.’
But it wasn’t certain.
It was merely my speculation.
Yet it was a possibility I couldn’t simply ignore.
‘I need to keep both possibilities in mind.’
Therefore, blindly waiting for Ian wasn’t the right approach.
But searching for him actively wasn’t a good method either.
If Ian was drawing aggro, then instead of searching for him, I needed to proceed with what I had to do now.
The tasks I had originally planned to do after joining forces with Ian.
Establishing the Allied Forces, recruiting the heroes of the Allied Forces, and building the power to stand against The Emperor.
‘I have to do it.’
Now, while Ian was drawing all The Empire’s attention, I had to act.
Moreover, I couldn’t miss the growth necessary to be reborn as the ultimate lifeform.
This was what Ian had entrusted to me.
Ian was fighting The Emperor while trusting in me.
So—
‘First, I’ll establish the Allied Forces.’
I had to repay that trust.
My current inventory contains over 120 million gold—more than sufficient to establish the Allied Forces.
The founding capital for the Allied Forces was abundantly adequate.
‘Whitewolf Territory would be the ideal base.’
Originally, I had intended to form the Allied Forces elsewhere, not in Whitewolf Territory, and consolidate our strength gradually.
But circumstances had changed everything.
Whitewolf Territory was a domain situated at the northernmost reaches of The Continent.
It existed at the survival threshold where humans could barely inhabit—precisely why it remained beyond the public eye.
It was an environment perfectly suited for quietly amassing strength and expanding our power.
‘The problem is that expanding forces within the territory is difficult.’
The population simply wasn’t large enough.
While I had sufficient funds to establish the Allied Forces, the population needed to conscript an army was woefully inadequate.
And population was a problem that could never be solved with money alone—.
◆Territory Quest, [Recruit New Soldiers!] has arrived.
Fortunately, Violess had thousands of raw recruits I could throw into the fray without hesitation.
* * *
Every member of Vister in Violess lay prostrate on the ground.
Yet Adrian himself seemed lost in deep contemplation, saying nothing.
Isolde, who had condemned Lyla, waited quietly for Adrian’s next command.
Time passed in silence.
“You there.”
Adrian suddenly pointed at someone with a single finger—.
“Yes, sir!! You called for me, Your Majesty!!”
Sarpedon, the patriarch of Black Grasp, shot up like an arrow.
His forehead was split open, blood streaming down his face.
“Gather every person in Violess to this location. Bring all the slaves from the Iron Waste District as well.”
“Right now, you mean…?”
Adrian’s only response was to furrow his brow—.
“Ah, understood! I’ll move immediately!!”
Sarpedon yelped and leaped to his feet.
Resistance or defiance.
There wasn’t even a hint of disobedience in his demeanor.
It wasn’t only Sarpedon and Black Grasp.
The various smaller factions of Vister also obeyed Adrian’s commands.
Absolute authority over Violess.
It was the birth of an absolute power that had never existed once in all of Violess’s history.
And yet—.
“I intend to erase the city of Violess from the map entirely.”
Adrian seemed to have no intention of wielding this absolute power.
As I turned my head, Adrian approached Isolde directly.
“Would you be willing to help me with that?”
“What can I help you with?”
Adrian spoke immediately in response to Isolde’s affirmative question.
“Violess has long been known as a self-sustaining city formed by the gathering of exiles, paupers, and criminals from various kingdoms. But as you yourself witnessed—”
“That wasn’t the reality.”
“Precisely. It was a city created by the Dark Merchant Company, and nothing more than a place of exploitation where slaves brought from various kingdoms by the Dark Merchant Company became its inhabitants.”
Isolde nodded in agreement once more.
There was not a single word out of place.
“In other words, most of these slaves have places to return to. There are people somewhere right now searching for them desperately, waiting for their return.”
“….”
“I intend to give them a sum of money and send them back to where they belong.”
At this point in his explanation,
Isolde could discern what Adrian was driving at.
“Are you asking for the Holy Kingdom’s assistance in ensuring they can return safely?”
“Yes. I will provide the funds.”
Isolde was the princess of the Holy Kingdom.
She possessed the power and authority to support them at the national level, ensuring their safe return.
Moreover, the Holy Kingdom’s knights were scheduled to arrive soon—
“Wait. So when you asked if there was a way to contact the Eye of The Pilgrim through the Black Market, you were planning this from the beginning?”
“Can you help me?”
Adrian’s answer was neither affirmation nor denial.
Yet Isolde could discern one thing with absolute certainty.
How could anyone call this man before her a reckless fool?
“I will.”
Isolde nodded immediately.
It was a request that required no deliberation.
In truth, it was something Isolde should have asked Adrian to help with first.
“And those with nowhere to return to—especially the Visters, who know nothing but brutality—if we simply release them, they will only commit further crimes.”
“Then it would be better to kill them all here—”
“I will take them in.”
“…Pardon?”
Isolde’s brows furrowed in an instant.
Adrian’s words just now.
They were difficult to accept.
In other words….
“You’re saying you’ll accept the Visters as subjects of Whitewolf Territory?”
“That’s not quite it. I wish to give them—to treat them harshly and… no, to give them a chance to change.”
A chance to change…?
“As the saying goes, ‘Kindness flows from a full granary, and no man who has gone three days without food has remained honest.'”
“….”
“People change according to the circumstances they find themselves in.”
“….”
“When placed in an environment as vile as Violess, even those called sages become more repugnant than the filth itself.”
“….”
“Therefore, I believe it would be worthwhile to observe how Vister changes in a different environment.”
“You believe Vister will change?”
They were nothing but trash who committed crimes.
There was a reason the saying existed that people could not be reformed.
They were inherently wicked from birth.
They would never change.
People simply did not change, after all.
Yet Adrian’s thoughts appeared to differ somewhat.
“Gods cannot change, but I believe people can.”
“….”
“Even if it proves difficult.”
A god who receives the faith and ideals of all humanity.
A god is eternal and immutable, never capable of change.
But people are different.
Because they are imperfect, they can change.
“Was I not myself a ruffian until recently?”
Even if it proved difficult.
Isolde found herself unable to speak, as though her words had been stolen.
Adrian’s words about embracing the Vister of Violess.
For a moment, Isolde’s mind went blank.
Not to punish sin, but to embrace it.
It was something Isolde could not fathom.
The Holy Kingdom held the doctrine: “Hate the sin, not the sinner.”
Yet Isolde had never agreed with it.
It was people who committed sin.
How could one not hate the person who committed it?
Her conviction on this matter remained unchanged.
But when she thought about it.
Even once.
Had Isolde ever overlooked someone’s wrongdoing?
Had she ever forgiven, turned a blind eye, or sometimes simply pretended not to notice?
Believing herself to be under the protection of the divine—
Convinced that her own beliefs and actions were the will of the divine—
Had she not acted without a shred of guilt?
Had she not simply “condemned” mistakes while believing herself righteous and just?
Isolde pondered Adrian’s words one by one—
Reflecting upon herself all this time—
Strangely enough.
It was the moment when Adrian appeared in a different light.
* * *
The Free City, where no absolute sovereign or lord held dominion.
By nature, the Free City was a privileged community, and through this foundation, it had achieved development specialized in various fields.
The commercial city of Frecce was one such city that had developed through specialization in commerce.
And there was another Free City that had developed as a center of economic activity alongside Frecce—
The trading city of Caravana.
Caravana placed emphasis on ‘trade’ rather than mere commerce, establishing itself as the nexus of external exchange, material flow, and trading networks.
While Frecce’s economy thrived on internal consumption and production, Caravana had flourished through logistics, intermediation, and re-export.
Geographically, its advantageous position amid road networks and numerous rivers made it ideal for trade, facilitating the exchange of diverse cultures and goods.
Caravana’s citizens were a blend of various races, creating a distinctly multicultural character that embodied the very essence of a ‘free’ city.
Perhaps that was why.
The citizens of Caravana were rarely surprised by anything.
With so many cultures intermingled, they frequently encountered the extraordinary.
And with rumors and incidents from various kingdoms constantly reaching their ears, they remained indifferent to most occurrences.
Yet today, the atmosphere of Caravana felt distinctly unusual.
“Have you heard the rumors, by any chance?”
“Rumors? What rumors?”
An utterly incomprehensible rumor was spreading—
“That Violess has vanished?”
The absurd rumor that the Lawless City of Violess had disappeared was echoing throughout Caravana.

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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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