The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 9

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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 9. The Hour of Dogs and Wolves (2)
Six Lords serve The Emperor.
These six Lords represent The Emperor’s greatest military strength, and my sister, Seraphia, reigned as the Frost Lord among them—a sorceress of unparalleled power.
And Kai was the most loyal knight who protected the Frost Lord, bearing the title of the Death Knight.
A Death Knight.
Death Knights are undead—once-exceptional knights resurrected from death.
In other words, Seraphia had resurrected Kai, a loyal knight of our house, as a Death Knight.
That was what everyone in the Allied Forces believed.
I believed it too.
But it wasn’t true.
Seraphia had not resurrected Kai as a Death Knight.
In fact, I learned this from Ian.
It was shortly after Ian’s final confrontation with the Frost Lord, Seraphia.
It came after the shocking news that Ian’s frozen left arm could not be healed had swept through the Allied Forces like a tempest.
According to Ian, Seraphia had instead sought to grant Kai peace.
From the beginning, Seraphia had never intended to resurrect Kai as a Death Knight to command him.
If Ian’s words were true, a question arose.
Then how had Kai been resurrected as a Death Knight?
To this question, Ian answered thus.
—Your question itself is flawed.
—What?
—Kai wasn’t resurrected as a Death Knight.
I naturally asked.
What nonsense was this?
Ian answered.
—He became a Lich.
A Lich.
Kai was not a Death Knight, but a Lich.
Death Knights and Liches are both supreme-tier undead monsters.
In that respect, Death Knights and Liches seemed no more different than dogs and wolves.
Yet like dogs and wolves, there existed a decisive difference between the two—
It was ‘will’.
A Death Knight is an undead resurrected by a necromancer to serve an exceptional knight as their thrall.
In that process, the Death Knight’s own will plays no part.
Most often, they are resurrected against their own will, compelled by external forces.
But a Lich was different.
A Lich becomes undead purely through their own will.
They transform themselves into an undead being.
Therefore, a Lich can never be forced into existence.
Whether the intention is noble or wicked, whether circumstances demand it or not, a Lich can only come to be through their own deliberate choice.
No one else could assist in the process.
The moment another’s will interferes even slightly, it ceases to be a Lich and becomes a Deathnknight instead.
Therefore, a Lich requires exceptional magical knowledge as an absolute prerequisite.
Because one must transform oneself into the undead through their own power.
It was no coincidence that the notion “Lich = powerful mage” had become almost an accepted axiom.
Naturally, questions arose.
Kai, a knight, was a Lich?
Had Kai learned magic at some point?
Ian answered that it was not the case.
Kai was a knight who didn’t know the first thing about magic.
I sought out the Grand Mage, the hero of the Allied Forces, and asked him directly.
Whether it was possible for a knight—not a mage—to become a Lich.
The Grand Mage answered.
-No.
It was a resolute answer, without a moment’s hesitation.
However, the Grand Mage could not explain it.
-I’m not entirely certain myself. How such a thing could even be possible….
Perhaps it was Ian’s misunderstanding.
That was the only explanation and answer available.
Yet neither I nor the Grand Mage believed it was truly Ian’s mistake.
Ian, the Emperor’s sole rival, the Hero.
It was inconceivable that Ian would make such a simple error of perception.
Kai had undoubtedly become a Lich as a knight.
If that were true, there could be only one answer.
They say there is no phenomenon without law.
When a phenomenon contradicts existing laws, it suggests not that the phenomenon is flawed, but that the existing law itself is wrong.
Yet the Grand Mage of the Allied Forces chose to focus not on refuting the existing laws, but on the manifestation of this new phenomenon.
Among all considerations, he proposed an expansion of the concept of “will.”
-As you know, a Lich becomes undead through their own will.
A powerful mage desires to become a Lich.
With such will, they use superior magical knowledge to achieve that transformation.
But such will—
Mere desire alone cannot make one a Lich.
What actually transforms one into a Lich?
-In the end, it is “magical knowledge.”
But what if that were possible in a different way?
Desire itself. Will itself.
What if, as its own entity, it could function as everything?
-All phenomena in this world are connected to the “will of the world.” Magical phenomena are no exception. So if one could only interact with such a world’s will….
And so he continued explaining in that vein.
I stopped listening beyond that point—my head was already aching.
Why did mages insist on explaining everything in such exhausting detail?
From what I gathered, it came down to a single word: loyalty.
The unwavering will of loyalty that the knight Kai possessed.
That very will had twisted the laws of nature itself, transforming him into an undead creature.
-Though whether such a thing is even possible, I myself am uncertain….
The Grand Mage’s expression betrayed his own disbelief in his own explanation.
It was a testament to just how impossible the feat truly was.
But if everything the Grand Mage said was true?
Then Kai had become undead through a transcendent will powerful enough to warp the very laws of existence.
As the chief knight of House Whitewolf, he had rejected death itself in order to protect his liege, Seraphia, to the very end.
‘The man is insane.’
In other words, utterly mad.
Death knights still possess the mercy of oblivion.
But liches do not.
A lich is an abomination that has rejected death’s mercy of its own volition.
All that remains for a lich is eternal torment—nothing but ruin.
Kai must have known this.
And yet he did not hesitate.
A madman consumed by loyalty.
A madman consumed by chivalry.
That is the man standing before me now.
The knight who had driven the Allied Forces into terror, who must be slain alongside Seraphia.
“What is your purpose?”
Kai, commander of the Frost Legion.
* * *
Adrian, held fast in Kai’s grip.
Kai replayed the scene that had just unfolded.
Adrian’s eyes, glowing with crimson light.
Those eyes, devoid of all reason and resembling those of a monster, were decidedly not human.
And in those eyes, Kai could see Adrian’s desire reflected.
It was unmistakably hunger.
One of humanity’s most primal urges, yet one that must never be revealed to another human being.
It was no mistake.
Adrian had clearly attempted to slaughter the soldiers and consume their flesh.
Kai’s hand had immediately moved to draw his blade, intent on severing Adrian’s neck.
He had not considered restraint.
His instincts screamed only one command: Adrian must die.
But then Seraphia appeared.
Her voice brought reason flooding back.
“Kai…!”
Seraphia regarded Adrian as precious family.
Though he was nothing but the wastrel of Count Whitewolf’s House, she cherished him as her only brother.
To kill Adrian would be a betrayal of her loyalty.
Kai barely managed to sheathe his sword.
Then he quickly reached out and barely caught Adrian’s hand.
But then….
Crack!!
The force with which Adrian tried to shake off Kai’s hand was extraordinary. It couldn’t possibly be human strength.
Certainly not the kind of power a wastrel of Count Whitewolf’s House could muster.
I instinctively drew upon the power of my aura.
Without doing so, I would have lost my grip entirely.
Even so, I could only manage to hold on.
Subduing him was beyond comprehension.
Adrian’s strength matched my aura-amplified power.
My eyes trembled for an instant.
Fortunately, Adrian wasn’t looking at me.
Adrian glanced at the turkey dish that had fallen to the floor before finally lifting his gaze.
Adrian’s eyes were turned upward.
They were as red as blood.
Though ominous like blood, they lacked the radiance from before.
Adrian’s eyes held a clear, unmistakable focus.
And within those focused eyes, I could perceive something latent within Adrian’s depths.
A ferocious entity crouched within a massive form.
For now, it was restrained by some incomprehensible force, unable to rise.
Yet it seemed that any trigger would unleash that terrible liberation.
When I confronted it.
What I felt was terror.
Not the fear one feels facing another human.
I am Kai, prepared to sacrifice my life for Seraphia at any moment.
The fear one might feel from another human holds no terror for me.
Therefore, that which dwells within Adrian—Adrian himself—could never be called human.
A predator of mankind.
Moreover, something that reigns supreme over all living creatures.
The primal terror of life itself when facing such an ultimate existence.
Though I felt it only for a moment.
I could see myself overwhelmed in that instant.
“Leave Whitewolf Territory at once.”
I cried out instinctively.
Adrian’s crimson eyes stared directly at me.
“If you dislike it?”
Adrian wrenched his hand free with all his strength. This time, I couldn’t stop him.
…For a moment, I was overwhelmed.
Adrian retreated several steps back from me.
“What is your purpose?”
I asked, but Adrian didn’t answer.
He was only rotating his captured wrist back and forth, checking its condition.
“I asked what your purpose is.”
Only after displaying a somewhat forceful aura did Adrian finally turn his gaze toward me. Yet Adrian showed no signs of intimidation or timidity whatsoever.
Despite the rather formidable pressure he exuded.
Ordinary people, let alone trained soldiers, would struggle to withstand such an aura.
What more could be said of Count Whitewolf’s House wastrel?
Sure enough, most of the soldiers were shrinking back.
Yet Adrian didn’t even blink. Instead, he countered with his own aura, pressing down upon me.
“Since when could a mere knight command a lord?”
“You are not the lord of Whitewolf Territory—”
“You’re not unaware that I still maintain the authority of a minor lord.”
“….”
I fell silent.
I was not ignorant of the truth in his words.
I simply could not acknowledge it.
My blue eyes fixed upon Adrian.
Adrian’s crimson eyes fixed upon me.
Our gazes locked. Neither of us looked away.
Our auras intensified further.
A taut tension stretched between us.
The air enveloping the Frost Trial Grounds grew bitterly cold.
A silence like the calm before a storm.
Suddenly.
Adrian let out a low chuckle.
“It seems a stray mutt raised among wolves has come to believe it is one of them.”
“….”
“Don’t be mistaken, Kai.”
You are nothing but a mongrel, after all.
“It was House Whitewolf that picked you up and raised you. It is House Whitewolf to whom you must pledge your loyalty.”
Not that abominable Seraphia.
With those words, Adrian walked past me and departed.
I remained motionless in that spot.
I could not move.
If I moved even slightly here….
If Seraphia hadn’t been present in this moment….
Crack!!!
I would have undoubtedly killed Adrian right then and there.
* * *
It happened the moment I stepped out of the Frost Trial Grounds.
◆Kai’s affection toward you has boarded the express carriage to the abyss!
◆Kai’s affection toward you has entered the [Hatred] state!
◆A person in the [Hatred] state possesses active aggression to kill and destroy you!
◆If given any opportunity, Kai will absolutely kill you!
◆Unlike the [Anger] state, which gradually subsides over time, the [Hatred] state grows stronger with each passing moment unless special measures are taken!
◆If you don’t wish to die, raise Kai’s affection as soon as possible!!
Translucent messages flooded my vision.
Followed by a piercing Weeee-! Weeee-!
A cacophony of warning alarms blared from all directions.
“How annoying.”
The noise was absolutely unbearable.
Especially with that apocalyptic Weeee-! Weeee-!
The relentless wailing alarm was enough to drive me mad.
Well, judging from the situation,
I had thoroughly gotten under Kai’s skin.
I waved my hand dismissively, scattering the messages like swatting away flies.
Then came a sharp sting—
An electric pain shot through me, and I grimaced.
The wrist Kai had seized.
Upon checking my status, I found the wrist bone was fractured.
“That monster.”
He truly was a monster unlike any other.
At this rate, I wouldn’t be able to use my wrist for several weeks.
Fortunately, regeneration would fix it, but my body’s nutritional reserves were completely depleted.
“I need to head to the dining hall and get something to eat.”
Just as I turned to leave,
◆Affection Quest [Don’t be mistaken, this alliance is only for this once] has begun.
“An affection quest?”
…What is this now?

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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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