The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - LLD Chapter 107: Journey to the Capital (3) (Part 2)

It was an extremely rare monster,
and in darkness, it boasted flawless night vision, missing nothing.

Hence its name—Noctura, meaning “Ruler of the Night Sky.”

And that title wasn’t an exaggeration.

◆ Skill: Assimilation [C-] activated.

I melted into the darkness using Assimilation [C-],
making myself harder to detect.

Unfortunately, I hadn’t secured a complete genetic set—
and this degraded Assimilation [C-] wasn’t enough to fully hide me from a Noctura’s perception.

So I used another tool—

◆ Skill: Slime Cell [C+] activated.

I activated Slime Cell [C+] to enhance joint mobility.

Again, the gene was incomplete, but still useful.

Sss—slip.
My muscles and joints, slick with slime, stretched and compressed without resistance.
Even the leaves beneath my feet didn’t rustle.

I left no trace—not even in the air.

But Noctura didn’t rely solely on its vision.
Its hearing was insane.

Its head could rotate up to 320 degrees,
and its ears were positioned unevenly,
allowing it to triangulate the precise direction of any sound.

That’s how it hunted prey—or sensed predators.

However, thanks to my title: King of the Underworld – Effect 2,
I had the Blessing of Darkness, reducing my movement noise by [-99%].

Silent footsteps.

The Noctura had no clue I was even there.

Still, I couldn’t afford to be careless.
In total darkness, I was also blind.

And Noctura was a flying monster—
once it got away, it would be hard to catch again.

I raised my senses to the limit,
lowered my breathing,
and waited.

And waited.

Until finally—
the Noctura was well within striking range.

◆ Using combination skill: Metabolic Overdrive [U]!
◆ Calories consumed: 65,500 Kcal
◆ For [655 seconds], all stats increased by [+65.5%]!

My body tore through the night air in a single burst.

The Noctura, startled, spread its wings and leapt—
but before it could even take flight—

CRACK!

◆ You have defeated Noctura!
◆ Gained 310 Combat EXP!

Dragon’s Claw [A] had already pierced straight through its heart.

Even during breaks, meals, and even sleep, Adrian always left to scout the surrounding area.

But during travel time—
Serapia finally had the chance to be with him.

…Or so she thought.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

From behind the carriage, massive thuds echoed—
Adrian was sprinting, keeping pace with the moving carriage.

On his back were heavy iron training tools,
and all over his body were weighted items that looked like training shackles.

The weight was staggering.

Each time he struck the ground—
thud! thud!
his footsteps left deep craters in the earth.

His muscles, swollen like coiled steel cables, looked as if they might explode at any moment.

“My god…”

“Did he carve that body from stone?”

“Even if you carved it from stone, it wouldn’t look like that…”

The soldiers watching exchanged horrified looks.

“Every time I see him, I think it again…”

“Is he even human?”

They could hardly believe they were the same species.

“But why is he suddenly doing that?”

“Training, apparently.”

“…Training? That’s not torture?”

“Even if it were torture, is that something you can do?!”

“It’s Adrian. Of course he can.”

Because it was Adrian,
the soldiers had reached a point where they accepted the absurd as normal.

Even during transit, he was pushing his body to the limit.

Everyone admired him for it.

Except for Serapia, who sat inside the carriage with her head down.

‘Because of me…’

She felt like she had stolen Adrian’s carriage for herself.

At the same time, she couldn’t help feeling hurt—
as if Adrian didn’t want to ride with her.

She resented the sudden ambush by the Shameleon.
She regretted showing off her power.
She felt a deep loneliness, wishing she’d stayed quiet.

All she wanted was to be a little more helpful to Adrian.
She had been so happy, thinking she could finally fight by his side.
She’d even hoped, just a little, for praise.

With all those thoughts swirling inside,
Serapia gently touched the handkerchief resting on her lap.

It was a gift she’d sewn carefully, stitch by stitch,
to thank the one who had saved her life.

She had hoped that through this, Adrian might understand her sincerity.
That they might grow a little closer.

But the entire journey to the capital—
Adrian never once let his guard down.

And so—

“We will be arriving at the capital, Battenbart, shortly!!”

The journey to the capital came to an end—
leaving behind nothing but a quiet emptiness.

The ceiling was adorned with delicate gold inlays.
Cream-colored marble walls glowed with a soft light.

At the end of a long table inlaid with rare gemstones,
a lone woman sat.

Her name was Marceline Charlotte de Battenberg—
Queen of the Battenberg Kingdom.

“Your Majesty, the two heirs of House Whitewolf have arrived in the capital.”

The head lady-in-waiting reported with care.
Marceline’s hand paused over her teacup.

“…They arrived sooner than expected.”

She set the cup down gently and tapped the saucer with her finger.

“A pity. I suppose I must take my leave now.”

With a graceful smile, she rose from her seat.
Then, suddenly pausing in her steps, she tilted her head slightly.

“Oh, right. That boy… his name was Adrian, wasn’t it?”

She cast a sidelong glance toward the other end of the table—

“The one the Marquess of Segretus has been so tense about.”

She watched his reaction.

“That’s an overstatement,” the marquess replied calmly.

But just for a moment—
a brief flicker of tension crossed his face.

The Queen didn’t miss it.

With a thin smile on her lips—

“I wonder what kind of boy he must be,
for even the Marquess of Segretus to be this… wary.”

Translatin_Otaku

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