The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - LLD Chapter 38: Monster Legion (Part 2)

To be honest,

I was planning to turn this emergency quest down.

As I jumped down the wall—
Boom!

I slammed Rex, who had been climbing the wall, straight into the ground.

Raising my claw—enhanced by [Dragon’s Claw]—I ripped out Rex’s heart.

His hide and flesh tore like paper, and he offered up his heart to me without resistance.

Pffsshhh—!

Blood burst in all directions. The world turned crimson, and amidst it, the first thing that came into view—were red eyes.

Serapia’s crimson eyes.
Her gaze trembled as she looked at me.

With Rex’s heart still clenched in my fist, I shoved it into my mouth, then looked around—

The eyes of the encroaching monsters were burning red. Drool oozed from their mouths, and their bodies reeked of bloodlust and madness.

Yet beneath it all, I could sense it.

They were afraid of me.

The effect of the title .

It instills fear in all monsters that inhabit the Snowy Mountains, reducing their stats by 15% when afflicted by that fear.

Groooo…!
Kiki, kikiyeek—!

Because of that, the monsters didn’t dare to charge at me recklessly.

Honestly, I held no attachment to House of Whitewolf’s County.
But until Ian returned, the County was necessary.

It was still needed as a base for the Predator Merchant Group.

More than anything—

There were this many genetic traits I could Predate here.

There was no need to scour the Snowy Mountains when they had gathered themselves right in front of me.

If I use predation on all of them, completing my evolutionary path would be a simple task.

So I couldn’t abandon this emergency quest.
I could list a hundred practical reasons—but the truth is, the biggest reason was this:

“Haha…”

This exhilarating thrill piercing my skull—I couldn’t let go of it.

It was a joy on a completely different level from when I encountered the Ice-Drake.

In my past life, I had fought the Monarch of Beasts.

And that war was no light affair.

It required the full might and lives of the entire allied force.

Ian, and every hero of the allied army, battled the Monarch of Beasts. Each battalion commander was summoned—including me.

After a long, brutal fight where countless lives were lost, the Monarch of Beasts finally fell.

Before Ian’s sword, the Monarch of Beasts knelt.

And I—

Did not Predate the Monarch of Beasts.

Not because I didn’t know.

I knew that by predating the Monarch’s heart, I would become tremendously powerful.

So it’s more accurate to say—I couldn’t predate it.

—You must not predate the Monarch’s heart, Adrian.

Because Ian warned me not to.

—Adrian, your mind won’t survive it.

First and foremost, he feared my mind would collapse.

In my past life, I couldn’t control the madness.

The more I used predation, the deeper I sank into insanity, and not even the miracles of the Saintess could heal it.

Only Ian could keep me in check.

Usually by beating the madness out of me until it subsided.

Likewise, Predating the Monarch’s heart would have surely driven me insane.

It was obvious—the madness of a Monarch would be overwhelming.

So Ian said—

—I won’t be able to handle it.

He was afraid he wouldn’t be able to stop me.

The version of me that had grown monstrously strong after predating the Monarch’s heart.

The version of me, rampaging in complete mental collapse.

—I’m not sure I could stop you without killing you.

He feared he might have to kill me.

That he couldn’t control me.

—You must not predate the Monarch’s heart.

So Ian opposed it.

And I agreed.

If I couldn’t control the madness, I’d be no different from a monster.

That would just be birthing another Monarch.

Uncontrollable power is a disaster waiting to happen.

In the end, I never predated the Monarch of Beasts. Nor did I with any of the other Monarchs.

But now, things were different.

Now I could suppress and control the madness.

Ian’s ability—[Player’s Will][EX]—

As long as I had it, I would never be consumed by madness.

The insanity contained in the Monarch’s heart wouldn’t break my mind.

Ian was stronger than any Monarch, and his ability would perfectly suppress that madness.

In other words—

Now, I could use [Predation S+] the Monarch’s heart.

The power and ability I never gained in my past life—I could acquire now.

So how could I not—

“Hahahahahaha!!”

—feel thrilled down to my very bones?

Of course, this was all under the assumption that I could actually win against the Monarch of Beasts.

Naturally, at my current level, I didn’t stand a chance.
But the Monarch of Beasts might not be the same as before.

Just like Serapia was no longer displaying her power as the Monarch of Frost, the Monarch of Beasts might be diminished now that we’ve gone back in time.

He likely didn’t retain the same power as in the past.

That meant—this fight might be winnable.

With Kai and Serapia on my side, the odds weren’t bad.

‘No sign of the Monarch of Beasts yet.’

Only waves of monsters—so many that calling them a Legion wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

And as the saying goes: no one survives a mob.

Even small fry become a pain when they group up.

But these weren’t small fry.

Which is why it wasn’t ideal to wear myself out before a possible Monarch fight.

Still, I turned slightly and called out to Kai, Serapia, and the soldiers on the wall.

“Stay out of this.”

Actually, this worked out well.

It was the perfect chance to test an incomplete skill—while progressing toward the peak of my evolved abilities.

A method of battle that no human should use—
A way of fighting that no human should even attempt—
A style that belonged to me alone.

◆ Combination Skill, ‘Metabolic Overdrive [U]’ activated! ◆

There was no better opportunity to complete this unfinished battle system.

Translatin_Otaku

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