The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - LLD Chapter 30: Conviction (Part 1)

There’s a chance that my ability, Predation [S+], isn’t duplication—but absorption.

I had suspected it for a while now.

Even back during my days as a Predator in the Allied Forces, the doubt had been there. And now that I’ve returned to the past, I could be sure of it.

All thanks to Ian’s ability.

◆ Predation [S+]

: Devours the heart of a living being to absorb its abilities and convert them into skills. However, it consumes mental strength.

It was Ian’s ability, and a semi-transparent message floated in front of me.

That message was clear: Predation [S+] doesn’t “copy,” it absorbs.

In other words, it explained that it steals the ability from the target.

And the mechanism behind it was the absorption of genetic mutations—taking in the very mutated gene that allowed the monster to wield such a power.

That is to say, it absorbs Madness.

Thus, the final mechanism of Predation [S+] is as follows:

I devour the heart of a living being using Predation [S+].
Through this, I absorb the mutation factor that granted the creature its unique ability. (In the case of monsters, this becomes Madness.)
That mutated gene is instantly applied to me at the cellular level.
I gain the ability to use it myself.

That’s why every time I used Predation [S+], I became engulfed in Madness.

And that also proves it’s not duplication, but a proper absorption.

“Which means, monsters I’ve used Predation on shouldn’t have any Madness left in them.”

Because I had already absorbed all of it.

It was a hypothesis—almost certainty.
Still, a theory must be tested.

That’s why I decided to feed it to Serapia.

A piece of the Ice Drake meat I had devoured using Predation [S+]—I needed to see if Serapia could eat it without losing her mind.

“I didn’t expect Kai to be the first one to try it, though…”

But in the end, my certainty solidified even more.

Monsters I use Predation [S+] on are stripped of their Madness—no, more precisely, that Madness is absorbed into me and disappears.

“And that also means Ian’s abilities are gone too.”

At present, Ian no longer possesses [EX] Solo Leveling or [EX] Player’s Will.

But I wasn’t worried.

It was very likely Ian had other abilities I didn’t know about.

The strength I’d seen from Ian…

He never relied solely on Solo Leveling [EX].

He had once been the Hero of the continent.
The only rival to the Emperor.

There’s no way losing a single ability would kill someone like him.

Even so, I did need to find Ian quickly.

Anyway—

“Looks like I can start selling it.”

And so, the specialty product of the County of Whitewolf was born.

Of course, it required the use of my Predation [S+] ability.

Strictly speaking, then, it wasn’t the County’s specialty—it was my specialty.

“Either way, word about the merchant group will spread fast.”

After all, I’d become the only merchant group on the continent selling monster meat.

And through that, I’d broadcast to the entire continent that I was here—in the County of Whitewolf.

“They’ll probably be begging for it.”

The monsters of the Snowy Mountains had meat far more tender than any other.

They had evolved with thick fat layers to survive the brutal cold.

Having tasted it myself, I could say with confidence—no other meat could compare to that of Snowy Mountain beasts.

Which meant I needed to secure a larger supply.

“Should I head back to the Snowy Mountains?”

Just as I was about to move—

“Did it really have to be this way?”

Kai spoke to me.

His expression looked even more sulky than last time.

“Then should I have fed it to the soldiers? The maids? Or maybe the townspeople?”

Kai shut his mouth tight.

He may be a lunatic when it came to loyalty, but he was just as mad about responsibility.

To a fault.

He was the kind of fool who would volunteer himself before letting others take the risk.

“Have you ever considered the idea that maybe no one should eat it?”
“That wasn’t an option. Someone had to try it.”
“And if we’d gone insane because of it?”

In that case, I’d intended to kill you right here.

That’s why I had Dragon’s Claw [A] at the ready to block Kai’s sword.

Facing a blade filled with Aura, I could tell—

“Even against a Master’s sword, this could hold its own.”

It performed like the actual claw of a real dragon.

Even if I fought Kai right now?
I was confident I wouldn’t lose.

Whether I could win though… that I wasn’t sure about.

Anyway.

Based on Predation [S+]’s mechanism, I was fairly confident that it wouldn’t drive people insane.

“Don’t worry. I was confident it wouldn’t.”
“And what gave you that kind of confidence—!”
“Because I’m the proof.”
“……”

Kai was struck silent.

Of course he was.

He had seen me eat monster meat with his own two eyes.

The hearts, to be exact. More than once, too.

Twice, to be precise.

And yet, I was perfectly sane. I hadn’t lost myself to Madness.

Of course, that was thanks to Ian’s ability, [EX] Player’s Will. But Kai didn’t know that.

“Do you really… know how to remove the Madness from monsters?”
“Yeah.”

Kai didn’t ask anything else.

Seeing it with his own eyes wasn’t enough—now he had experienced it for himself.

To deny it any further would be plain foolishness.

“If I can be sure others can eat monster meat too, we can turn it into a specialty product of the County. That’ll solve our financial problems in one go.”
“…….”
“And we can also prepare for the coming winter. Not just this one, but every winter from now on.”
“…….”
“Pretty good gamble, wasn’t it?”

Assuming the gamble paid off, of course.

And it had—beautifully.