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

It was a punishment—for a creature that refused to submit to the Legion.

In my past life as well, dragons never bowed to the Legion.
And the Ice-Drake bore the genetic imprint of dragons.

A creature filled with the pride of dragons—never one to submit.

So they gave up on subjugating it.

And instead, butchered it mercilessly.

“The Ice-Drake I encountered must have been one that escaped from here.”

Judging by the carcass, which was about 20 meters long, the Ice Drake I had encountered was likely just a “youngling.”

I continued inspecting the corpse.

The head was badly mangled.
Most of its teeth were broken, and its snout was torn wide open, both top and bottom.
Its yellow eyes—undetected before—had lost all life, left staring blankly into the void.

A scene of pride trampled, of a once-proud ruler of the Snowy Mountains laid to waste.

And at last—

I could tell who was responsible for this.

It was the Monarch of Beasts—and wasn’t at the same time.

“The Beast Legion Commander…”

One of the commanders serving under the Monarch of Beasts.

While operating as the task force commander within the Special Warfare Unit, I had gathered intel on both the Monarchs and their commanders.

I had all their information stored in my head.
Even combing through my memories of my past life, I could say for certain:

“It’s definitely the Beast Legion Commander.”

This was the work of the Beast Legion Commander.

“Was he active in the North?”

I hadn’t been in the northern region at the time, so I hadn’t known.
And since Serapia hadn’t awakened as the Monarch of Frost yet, it seemed plausible.

Regardless—

“The Beast Legion Commander, huh…”

The Emperor had granted the title of Monarch to only six beings he acknowledged.
Similarly, the Monarchs gave the title of Commander to the strongest individuals under their command.

The most prominent example: Kai, the Commander of the Frost Legion.
Kai had received that title directly from Serapia, the Monarch of Frost, as her knight.

These Commanders did not serve the Emperor, but rather the Monarchs.
Though, since the Monarchs served the Emperor, it was effectively the same.

There were also Commanders who directly served the Emperor—
They were called Imperial Army Commanders.

But whether they were Monarchs’ Commanders or Imperial ones,
they all stood at the forefront of war, mercilessly crushing the allied forces.

To the Allied Forces, these Commanders were nightmares.
Each one was personally selected by their Monarch.
They received a portion of the Monarch’s power—their Authority.

That was why I couldn’t Predation [S+] the Beast Legion Commander in my past life.
He had held the same Authority and power as the Monarch of Beasts himself.

In other words—

“I can obtain the genetic trait of the Monarch of Beasts.”

Even from the Commander, I could absorb the genetic material of the Monarch.

In that sense, it was actually fortunate.

“Facing the Monarch of Beasts was pushing it anyway.”

I said it was doable, but honestly? I was terrified.
The odds weren’t good, and realistically, I’d be the one hunted.
Even with Dragon Rage Explosion [E].

But against a Commander?

“Now that’s actually doable.”

This was truly worth attempting.

Though, I couldn’t afford to be careless.

While not on the same level as a Monarch, Commanders still belonged to an otherworldly tier.
Just look at Kai, the former Commander of the Frost Legion—that says it all.

“Let’s see…”

I opened up my 「Player Info」 window.

== 「Player Info」 ==
[Name] = Adrian Whitewolf
[Title] = Lord of the Snowy Mountains
[Level] = Level 29
[HP] = 2,515
[MP] = 0
[Stats] = STR: 33 (+5), AGI: 32.2 (+9.2), VIT: 24.15 (+8.15), Mana: 6 (+5)
[EXP] = 77.2%

<Bonus Stat +1>

The extra EXP I gained from hunting the monster legion had leveled me up once—
That brought me to level 29, but something was odd.

“My Agility and Vitality went up?”

And not in round numbers either—9.2 and 8.15?
Excluding the Lord of the Snowy Mountains title bonus, that meant +4.2 and +3.15 were added.
As for Strength, I remembered earning +4 through training before the legion battle.

But Agility and Vitality?

“Why…? Oh—this must be it.”

I quickly figured it out.

◆ Promote Metabolism [C+]
: Upon acquiring this skill, the player’s endocrine system is stimulated, drastically increasing metabolic activity. Strength is reduced by [-0%], while Agility and Vitality increase by [+15%].

• Strength reduction no longer applies.
• Skill type has changed from [On/Off] to [Passive].
  <Once acquired as a passive skill, its effect is permanently active.>

Promote Metabolism had evolved to grade [B].
With that, it became a complete form and transitioned from [On/Off] to [Passive].

In other words, I now benefitted from its effects at all times.

“But the temporary boost function’s gone.”

Not a big deal—I still had Metabolic Overdrive [U].
Even if the raw increase was lower, the fact that it was now passive made it far more beneficial.

“So that means Agility now increases by 1.15?”

I invested my remaining bonus stat into Agility.
Sure enough, it went from 32.2 to 33.35.

This applied to Vitality as well—
Its training efficiency also increased by +15%.

“Nice.”

No, not just nice—it was broken.

The higher my stats, the more exponentially powerful I became.

Though at my current level, the effects were still moderate.

“Hmm…”

I calmly evaluated my combat capabilities.

The Beast Legion Commander—

If the one I was thinking of was the real deal…

“I can’t take him on alone.”

It looked like it was time to unleash the hounds.

RUMBLE—

The wooden gates of House Whitewolf roared open with a deafening crash.
The entire estate, once buried in snow and ice, had mostly thawed—thanks to Dragon Rage Explosion [E].

But had it snowed again while I was out searching the Snowy Mountains?

The walls and gate were dusted with a new layer of snow.

As the gate fully opened, the first to greet me was Kai.

Golden hair glistening under the sun.
Silver armor that shrugged off the cold.
Eyes like polished blue opals.
A sharply chiseled jawline.

He looked like a noble wolf born from the snowy peaks—Kai.

‘Why does he look… fine?’

He looked too fine.

I was the one who had told him to rest.
And I’d only been gone about a day.

I figured he’d have recovered somewhat, but this was excessive.

The man who’d been on the verge of collapse was now striding toward me, perfectly healed.

‘How…?’

I closely observed Kai as he approached.

And then—I sensed a power radiating from him.

It was akin to a saint’s miracle…

‘Regeneration…?’

It resembled even my Regeneration [B+]…

Translatin_Otaku

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