The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - LLD Chapter 43: Traces (2) (Part 1)

Among the six Monarchs who serve the Emperor—there is the Monarch of Beasts.

The Allied Forces referred to the Monarch of Beasts as a case of Irreducible Complexity.

Irreducible Complexity.

In short, it referred to life forms that couldn’t be explained through evolution.

To simplify even further—it meant a creature not born of nature, but one crafted with clear intention by an intelligent being.

In other words, a life form born of intelligent design.

There’s a common misconception about evolution:
That it has a purpose—that creatures evolve to become better.
But that’s wrong.
Completely wrong.

Evolution is simply the result of random variations.
Among them, only the ones that manage to survive in a given environment pass on their genes.

In essence, evolution has no goal or will.
It’s not as though a creature assesses what’s advantageous for survival and then chooses to evolve accordingly.

Survival genes remain by chance—because they happened to suit the environment.
That is, evolution is the outcome of natural selection, chosen by nature.

But what if—

What if purpose and will could be inserted into evolution?
What if one could assess what would be beneficial for survival?

What if a being could deliberately choose its genetic traits based on such considerations?

A life form born of intelligent design—the Monarch of Beasts.

The Monarch of Beasts was not a product of nature, but a creature deliberately engineered through intelligent design.
Its evolution was guided by a clear goal and infused with definite will, selecting only those traits most advantageous to survival.

So much so that it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the Monarch of Beasts possessed the genetic material of nearly every life form on the continent.

In that sense, the Monarch of Beasts could be equated with what Ian referred to as the Ultimate Lifeform.

But there was a critical difference.

Ian’s Ultimate Lifeform was one that had absorbed every trait suitable to natural selection—it was born instantly, reproduced instantly, lived eternally, had no natural predator, and was free from all biological weaknesses.

Such a being didn’t require all the world’s genetic material.
Unnecessary, useless, redundant genes were obstacles.

But the Monarch of Beasts was different.

It held the genetic material of nearly every species on the continent.

More than that, the Monarch of Beasts hadn’t just acquired genetic material.
It had fused them.

A grotesque amalgamation—as if hundreds of monsters had been merged together.
A chaotic blend—as though thousands of animals and insects had been mashed into one.
A life form synthesized from tens of thousands of beings.

A Chimaera.

The Monarch of Beasts was a chimaera that incorporated the genetics of all living creatures.

That’s why—

It was also the Monarch I most desired to use Predation [S+] on.

To hold the genetic material of nearly every species on the continent—
In other words, consuming the Monarch of Beasts via Predation [S+] would grant access to an infinite array of genetic data.

If I could obtain it, I could create an endless number of combination skills.
Just as I once extracted dragon genes from Dragon’s Claw [A] to craft Dragon Rage Explosion [E].

But in my past life, I wasn’t able to use Predation [S+] on the Monarch of Beasts.
I simply couldn’t.

Not just the Monarch of Beasts, either. The other Monarchs, especially—

◆ Player’s Will [EX] resists the Swallowing Darkness!

—I couldn’t devour them with Predation [S+].

But now is different.

With Ian’s ability, Player’s Will [EX], I can use Predation [S+] on the Monarch of Beasts.

So I had to find it.

If the Monarch of Beasts had been in the north, it would’ve definitely left traces behind.

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

I sprinted up the Snowy Mountains.

* * *

Finding traces was no easy task.

The northern region of the continent is vast.
There was no way to search every corner.

Still, I had one location in mind that stood out as suspicious.

The Ice-Drake’s habitat.

At the peak of the Snowy Mountains.

The Ice-Drake, the so-called master of the Snowy Mountains.
It rarely descended from the summit.

Using its sturdy claws, it would dig through the snow to feed on the moss and grass growing beneath.

That’s why I never approached the summit while hunting other mountain monsters.
The Ice-Drake wasn’t particularly threatening—unless its territory was violated.

I had planned to hunt it later, once I met Ian.

But in the end, I encountered the Ice-Drake.
Because it had come down from the summit.

At first, I thought it had simply run out of prey.
That was my only assumption.

But what if that wasn’t it?

What if the Ice-Drake hadn’t come down of its own will?
What if it had been driven out?

With that suspicion in mind, I began to thoroughly search the summit of the Snowy Mountains.

It was like climbing mountain after mountain.
The search took much longer than expected.

It felt like it took a full day.

Fortunately, the effort wasn’t in vain.
On one of the summit’s ridges, I found traces.

A terrifying sight—like a giant scar carved into the landscape.

“This is…”

Within that scene lay the shredded corpse of the Ice-Drake.

Its body was ripped apart and frozen solid.
It had been dead for a long time.
Its heart had long since lost vitality and had hardened like ice.

Unfortunately, it seemed impossible to extract genetic material for Predation [S+].

I examined the corpse more closely.

The massive creature that once ruled these mountains now lay cold and lifeless on the icy ground.
Frozen blood had turned its entire body snow-white.

Its hide, once tough enough to withstand even steel blades, was torn in several places.

If this had been the work of humans, it would have required knights who could wield Aura.
But the Ice-Drake’s hide hadn’t been cut by swords or weapons.

Deep lacerations—inflicted by claws and fangs.

Not done by humans.
Nor by other Snowy Mountain monsters.

There were no monsters in the mountains capable of doing this to the Ice-Drake.
In fact, even across the entire continent, there weren’t many monsters that could kill one so brutally.

I examined the corpse again.

The claws that once symbolized its dominance had been completely ripped out.
No hunter, even driven by hunger, would need to go this far.

“This wasn’t a kill for food.”