The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - LLD Chapter 24: The New Master of the Snowy Mountains (Part 2)

At a glance, Adrian’s combat style resembled that of a martial artist.

But even martial artists used Aura.

After all, the human body wasn’t naturally suited for use as a weapon.

That’s why martial artists developed their Aura specifically to reinforce their bodies.
A body strengthened to such a degree could block Aura Swords and, at times, even break them.

A martial artist who reached the level of a master could rival an Ogre in physical prowess.

But Adrian couldn’t be called a martial artist.

Because Adrian couldn’t use Aura.

In fact, his aptitude for mana was practically nonexistent—approaching zero.

Kai had seen it with his own eyes, so he could say this with certainty.
During the battle with the Ice Drake, Adrian didn’t use a single trace of Aura—or Mana Force, for that matter.

In other words, Adrian had fought the Ice Drake purely with his physical body.

And that wasn’t all.
The real reason Kai felt disturbed was something else entirely.

‘How did he block the Ice Breath…?’

Adrian had blocked the Ice Breath with his body alone.

Even Kai wouldn’t be able to do that.

Kai, who had once withstood an avalanche in the Snowy Mountains,
still couldn’t say with confidence that he could block the Ice Breath.

Even if he pushed his Aura to its absolute limit—it would still be impossible.

And yet, Adrian did it—without using a shred of Aura.

“What the hell is he…?”

Just what was Adrian?

He was far too different from the Adrian Kai remembered.
It was as if… he’d become an entirely different person.

Especially the moment Adrian ordered the soldiers to fall back.

Rather than sacrificing the soldiers, Adrian had volunteered himself as the sacrifice.

Crack!

At one point, Kai had even thought Adrian had thrown him in as bait and run away, but that wasn’t the case either.

Crunch!

Even in a situation where death loomed over them, Adrian hadn’t fled.

It was hard to admit, but…

…they worked together seamlessly.

Even without speaking, they could read exactly what the other wanted.

Snap! Crack!

As if they’d been partners trusting each other with their backs for decades.

Fighting the Ice Drake alongside Adrian, Kai even felt a strange exhilaration.

Crackle!

Perhaps that’s why…

He found himself, just a little, starting to acknowledge him.

Crunch!

Adrian was no longer the disgrace of the House of Whitewolf.
No—he was starting to acknowledge Adrian, the person.

Crunch! Crack!

“……?”

Kai tilted his head.
The whirlwind of thoughts was abruptly cut off.

Crack! Crackle!

That bizarre, grotesque sound that had been echoing for a while.

As Kai slowly raised his gaze…
Adrian was nowhere to be seen.

Just a moment ago, he’d been right in front of him.

Had he leapt into the sky?

Of course not.

Then had he sunk into the ground?

Also—no.

Crunch! Crackle!

…Though, that wasn’t entirely wrong.

The strange, grotesque sound was coming from the Ice Drake’s corpse.

And with every noise, its massive body twitched.

The Ice Drake wasn’t alive.

It had certainly died.

Which meant—

“No way…”

Kai’s face went pale.

Just as wild thoughts began racing through his head—

Rip.

That grotesque sound echoed once more—faint but distinct—from within the Ice Drake’s body.

Kai was just standing there blankly, staring at me.

He had his eyes slightly lowered, like he was deep in thought.
He definitely looked like he wanted to say something.

I didn’t know what he was planning to say,
but whatever it was, I didn’t have time to listen to crap like that.

The Ice Drake’s body was cooling fast.

Once the heart lost all vitality, I wouldn’t be able to absorb any genetic abilities through Predation.

I’d already wasted a good amount of time checking the quest rewards.
If I delayed any further, I might lose my chance to devour anything at all.

There was no way I was going to let my hard-earned kill go to waste.

So I ignored whatever Kai was muttering.

Didn’t care. At all.

Unfortunately, my sword couldn’t cut through the Ice Drake’s hide.
Without Aura, a regular blade couldn’t even leave a scratch.

So I had no choice but to dig through the severed neck.

The only option was to crawl inside and extract the heart myself.

Crunch! Crack!

The thing was easily 10 meters tall.
Just reaching the heart took a while.

Still, it was warm inside—
proof that the corpse hadn’t gone cold yet.

I dug and dug until I reached its chest, where the heart was.
Finally, after a struggle, I found it.

Thankfully—

‘Still good.’

The heart’s vitality hadn’t completely faded.
Thanks to my effort to protect it, it was still in excellent condition.

Without hesitation, I brought it to my mouth.

Then—Crunch!

I sank my teeth into the heart.

◆ Kai’s favorability toward you has dropped dramatically!!

Out of nowhere, Kai’s favorability had hit rock bottom.

◆ Kai’s favorability toward you is now at [Disgust]!
◆ Characters in [Disgust] status dislike and hate you!

◆ While in [Disgust] status, characters won’t become openly hostile,
but will strongly avoid interacting with you whenever possible.

Huh. One moment we’re in sync, and now this?

‘At least it’s not [Hatred] though?’

◆ Wow, lucky you!!!

Translatin_Otaku

•