The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - LLD Chapter 22. The Delinquent and the Chief Knight (1)

Kai’s teeth—no, his blade—infused with Aura.

That was what tore through the hide of the Ice-Drake.
If it had been the scales of a true dragon, it wouldn’t have worked.
But the Ice-Drake’s hide wasn’t as tough as dragon scales.

Kieeeek—!!

The Ice-Drake let out a pained scream. The Predator’s instincts, once glowing brightly, dipped downward.
Its eyes scanned all around as it shrieked.
The emotion flickering in those eyes was…

Ki, Kirrk!

Panic. That was the gap.

Crack!
I tightened my thigh muscles and launched myself like a bolt.

The distance shrank fast.
And the Ice-Drake?

It was still flustered, unable to recover.
I straightened my posture and hurled my fist forward.

Thud! A deep, echoing impact.
A heavy sensation traveled through my fingertips.

KIEEEEEEEEEK—!!

The Ice-Drake’s gaping jaws opened wide in pain, unleashing a monstrous shriek.
The blow had definitely landed, but it wasn’t enough to pierce its hide.
Simple blunt force alone couldn’t breach the Ice-Drake’s tough skin.

Still, that didn’t mean the hits had no effect.

Thump! Thud—! Thud!

Each time I struck the Ice-Drake, my fists broke apart. Bones crumbled, flesh tore.
But I didn’t stop.
I severed the pain signals and suppressed the agony, continuing to pummel the beast’s body.

BOOM—!!

With a shock like an explosion, the Drake staggered back. Blood poured from its mouth.
Its innards must have ruptured—chunks of unidentifiable flesh spilled out along with the blood.

The eyes that once gleamed with a yellow light had dulled completely.
They no longer belonged to a predator.

Blood was gushing out of the clean slice Kai had made.
The damage I inflicted made it cough up blood over and over again.

It wasn’t a fatal wound.
But it was close.

Could this be enough to turn the tide?

No—this wasn’t the time for that kind of thinking.
I quickly shook my head. I knew better.

A wounded monster—especially one driven mad—only gets more dangerous.

Let your guard down thinking you’ve won, and the Ice-Drake will tear Kai and me to shreds with a single blow.

Kai knew that too. He didn’t rush in recklessly. He held his breath, re-gripped his sword, and closely watched the Ice-Drake’s movements.

The Ice-Drake glared at us with ragged breaths.

But then, it shifted its attention away from me.
It glanced at my battered fists, then lost interest.

Of course it did—right now, I couldn’t take in any more nutrients.
I’d already eaten all the monster meat I had stored in my inventory.

That meant I could no longer regenerate.
In this state, I posed no threat to the Ice-Drake.

That’s why it began seeing Kai as the more dangerous one.
It decided that Kai, not me, had to die first.

Right now, I wasn’t the Predator of the Allied Forces.
I was just the delinquent of the House of Whitewolf.
And Kai wasn’t the Commander of the Frost Legion anymore either.

Even with Kai here… to be honest, I wasn’t sure.
I couldn’t say for certain that we could beat the Ice-Drake.

Chances were, we’d end up as its prey.

And if that was the case…

‘Guess I don’t have a choice.’

I backed away.

Adrian suddenly turned and ran.

There wasn’t a hint of hesitation or doubt in him.
Leaving Kai as bait for the Ice-Drake, he put everything into his escape.
And just like that, Adrian vanished from sight.

Kai’s jaw clenched so hard it audibly cracked.

…So that’s what he was planning all along.

Throw Kai to the Drake and save his own skin.
I should’ve sensed something was off the moment he suggested the two of us face the Ice-Drake together.

The only small relief was that he threw Kai to the wolves instead of the soldiers.

The Ice-Drake didn’t chase after Adrian.
It had already recognized Kai as the greater threat.
It saw Adrian as just another prey it could hunt anytime.

Kirrk!

The Ice-Drake sneered.
Its gleaming yellow eyes shone with mockery.

If only… I hadn’t pulled the soldiers back.

Regret surged—but no matter how fast regret comes, it’s always too late.
If I hadn’t pulled them back, it would’ve been the soldiers dying instead of Kai.

Still, that didn’t mean I’d just sit and become food.
It’s just that… the odds weren’t great.

Kai’s sword could definitely cut and split the Ice-Drake’s hide.

As Kai gripped his sword tight—

BOOM!
The Ice-Drake burst forward, kicking off the snow-covered ground.
The gap closed in an instant.
Claws filled Kai’s vision, bearing down on him. In a rush, he swung his sword to block.

CLANG—! CLANG-CLANG!

Sparks exploded in every direction.
And the one being pushed back… was Kai.

The Ice-Drake clearly knew Kai’s sword was dangerous.

Unlike its hide, the Ice-Drake’s claws had inherited everything from dragons.
In other words, they were no different from true dragon claws.

A simple Aura Sword couldn’t stand against dragon claws.
Even a knight who had reached the level of Aura Master couldn’t counter them.

Let alone Kai—who wasn’t even a Master.

BOOM—!
The Aura around Kai’s blade shattered. His body was flung back violently.
As he scrambled to refocus his vision, the Ice-Drake was already close to the ground, ready to pounce.

The wounded monster.
Its gaze grew even more ferocious and savage.

The Ice-Drake charged toward Kai at a terrifying speed.

‘It’s fast!’

There’s a reason it’s called the ruler of the Snowy Mountains.
This wasn’t something he could block—or dodge.
There was only one thing he could do.

If you can’t avoid the blow, then let it break your bones—as long as you can land a hit in return.
Kai clenched his teeth in anticipation of the impact.

…He had to endure it.

BOOM—!

A massive explosion rang out.
But something was strange.
That impact hadn’t come from Kai.
He hadn’t been struck at all.

Suddenly—

The Ice-Drake was sent flying through the air before Kai’s eyes.

It crashed headfirst into the snowy ground of the mountain, tumbling awkwardly.
And it didn’t rise immediately.

Just who had done that…? As that thought crossed Kai’s mind—

“Don’t get the wrong idea.”

A voice came faintly from nearby.
Kai snapped to attention.

And when he turned his head—

Before he knew it—

“This alliance is only for this time.”

Adrian was there, munching noisily on a chunk of monster flesh from who-knows-where.

Due to inventory weight restrictions, most of the monsters they hunted had to be discarded.

And two weeks was more than enough time for a corpse to rot.
But the brutal cold of the Snowy Mountains significantly slowed the process.

No—more accurately, it prevented decomposition entirely.

‘Not that it matters if it rots.’

He had already chewed through viscera soaked in bodily fluids. A little spoilage didn’t matter.
As long as it provided calories, it was fine.

And so, while Kai bought time by fighting the Ice-Drake, Adrian used [Promote Metabolism] [E+] to move quickly.

He remembered the areas he’d hunted in.
Finding the discarded corpses wasn’t hard.

He swept through two or three locations and filled his inventory’s maximum weight capacity—880kg—to the brim.
The corpses hadn’t decayed, but they were completely frozen solid.

The ones stored inside the inventory were fine.
But those left exposed to the cold were another story.

Crunch! Crackle!

It felt more like chewing rocks than flesh.
Fortunately, with a bite force of 22 Strength, even that was crushed.

Though, his teeth shattered in the process.
But he didn’t pay it any mind.

Crunch! Craack!

Shattered teeth could be Regenerated.
Right now, calories were the only thing that mattered.

Gulp.

He finally swallowed whatever it was—meat or stone, who could tell?
When he turned his gaze, he saw Kai looking at him with an expression that was… remarkable.

It wasn’t just curiosity.
It was like watching a bizarre new species beyond comprehension.

In a way, Adrian was being treated as something even more alien than the Ice-Drake itself.

“Didn’t you run away?”

Kai’s question came abruptly.
It seemed he had assumed Adrian had fled.

“Then why…?”

And now, he appeared genuinely puzzled that Adrian had helped him.

Even if it wasn’t about fleeing, Adrian had been given the perfect opportunity to let Kai die.
But that wouldn’t have been ideal for Adrian, either.

‘It’d make hunting the Ice-Drake a lot harder.’

There was no way he could take it down alone.
But he also couldn’t afford to give up the Ice-Drake’s genetic traits.
Naturally, there was no way he could explain any of this.

He had neither the reason nor the time—.

“Don’t get the wrong idea. This alliance is only for this time.”

He just brushed it off with that line.

But just now…

‘Wasn’t that part of Kai’s affinity quest?’

Probably.
Oh well, whatever.

“Keep your head on straight, Kai.”

Having finished regenerating, Adrian brought both fists to his chest.
Kai, snapping back to focus, tightened his grip on his sword.

At the same time, the Ice-Drake began to rise again.

It growled low and deep.
There was no more sign of amusement or play.

From this point on, it was a desperate fight for survival.

Kill—or be killed.

“It’s coming.”

No sooner had Adrian spoken than the Ice-Drake charged.

As Adrian finished his words, the Ice-Drake lunged.

Its massive frame sliced through the air, razor-sharp claws tearing into the snowy ground.
It didn’t move like a wounded creature at all.

The gusting wind blinded their vision with a blizzard for a moment—.

But Adrian was already at the Ice-Drake’s side.

His fist, tightly clenched, flashed through the flurry like falling snow.

CRACK—!

The Ice-Drake reeled from Adrian’s direct punch.
The impact had clearly shaken it—
it struggled to regain its balance.

“Kai!!”

Adrian’s voice struck like thunder.
And Kai’s blade gleamed instantly.

His silver armor reflected the icy light of the Snowy Mountains.
And his sword, infused with Aura, shone blue even in the snow.

‘It’s possible.’

With Adrian by his side—.

‘We can win this.’

Kai was starting to believe it.

Translatin_Otaku

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