The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - LLD Chapter 19: Pursuit (Part 2)

At this rate, Adrian would soon undergo Monsterization.¹
If that happened, they could no longer leave him be.

Adrian, wandering the Snowy Mountains in a mindless state…

He had to be killed.

“What should we do?”

To the soldier’s question, Kai answered without hesitation.
This was no longer a search mission for Adrian.

“Keep tracking him.”

It was now a mission to track and eliminate Adrian.

It was highly likely that Adrian was still in the Snowy Mountains.

Though it was an extreme environment where most couldn’t survive a single day, let alone two weeks, Kai didn’t believe Adrian had died.

Adrian was definitely still alive.
But today… Adrian would die.

Following his trail, Kai and the soldiers began heading higher into the mountains.

And then—

BOOOOM—!!

A massive explosion erupted from one side of the Snowy Mountains.

That unidentified being that had suddenly ambushed me.

Eventually, the blizzard settled—

And within it, emotions like hatred, joy, and ecstasy swirled together.

A beast cloaked in pitch-black hatred and madness.
A creature born of blind bloodlust.

Its low, growling roar exploded with a frenzy so intense, it felt as if it were wringing the madness from every vein.

An unquenchable thirst for blood.
A hunger that could never be sated.

It felt like it could rip me to shreds at any moment.

“Ice Drake…”

Ice Drake.

A mutated form of the monster known as a Drake, given the Ice due to its evolution path.

In other words, the Ice Drake belonged to the same species as the Drake.
Taxonomically speaking, it was classified as a subspecies, and the two could even interbreed.

They simply didn’t do so due to their different habitats.

So whether Ice Drake or Drake—
All Drakes shared a common ancestor.

The Dragon.

The term Drake itself was derived from Dragon.
Not just because they resembled dragons in appearance.

Drakes were a divergent branch of Dragons.
A separate species that had split off long, long ago.

In short, Drakes belonged to the dragon family.

Just like tigers and cats both belong to the feline family, the difference between Dragons and Drakes was stark—
Yet they were still related.

But therein lay the problem.
Dragons were abnormal entities to begin with.

Dragon.

The continent’s strongest being.
A walking catastrophe.

A Dragon was known as the final stage of biological evolution.

It’s possible for a species to adapt perfectly to a specific environment.
Just as life can survive in the harsh, sub-zero climates of the Snowy Mountains.

But perfect adaptation is a double-edged sword.
If that specific environment is disrupted, extinction comes swiftly.

Just as a monster from the Snowy Mountains would boil to death within a day in the southern heat.

Adapting to a particular environment is possible.
But adapting to all environments is not.

With one exception—

The Dragon.

Dragons can survive in any condition across the continent.

In the dead of winter, in scorching heat, beneath salty seas, in arid deserts, in dense jungles—

Countless natural settings,
And Dragons can thrive in all of them.

In every one of those environments, the Dragon reigns as the top predator.

There are records of a single Dragon incinerating an entire kingdom without suffering a single scratch.

In short, Dragons are virtually indestructible.

Drakes are the offshoot of such creatures.
They may differ greatly—like tigers and cats—but their power remains immense.

Thus the name: Ruler of the Snowy Mountains.

Truly a distant relative of the Dragon, the Ice Drake sat at the apex of the region’s food chain.

Its leather alone made it obvious.

Most monsters in the Snowy Mountains are white.
A camouflage adaptation for protection against predators.

But the Ice Drake was different.

Its skin was a vivid reddish-brown.
It had no need for camouflage—its very presence proclaimed it the mountain’s ruler.

When it split from the Dragon lineage, its wings atrophied.
In exchange, it gained exceptional agility to sprint across the ground.

Its thick, muscular tail helped with balance and served as a devastating weapon.

But contrary to its terrifying appearance, it was almost herbivorous.
Technically omnivorous, the Ice Drake had evolved that way.

Due to the Snowy Mountains’ scarcity of food—

It would dig into the snow with its strong claws to eat moss and grasses growing beneath.

Because of that, it rarely descended from the mountain’s summit.

‘So then why now…?’

With that thought, the fear of death crept in.

Instinct screamed at me to run, blaring alarms in my head.
But my body wouldn’t move.

It was as if I’d turned into an ice statue.

Not from cold—but from pure terror.

And yet—

A thrilling exhilaration surged through my entire body.

Though Drakes split from Dragons long ago, they were still classified within the Dragon family.

Which meant—

Drakes retained Dragon genes.

Dragons were a species I couldn’t devour even in my past life.
Even as a Predator in the Allied Forces, I had never dared consider devouring one—
The continent’s strongest lifeform.

And now—

That supreme genetic code was right in front of me.

Grrrrk—!

How could my body not tremble with excitement?

Translatin_Otaku

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