The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - LLD Chapter 44: The Hounds (1) (Part 2)

And that makes the limitations of his immortality very clear.

‘Still, he’s a damn lunatic.’

Regardless, a lunatic is a lunatic.

Most of all—
In our previous life, he wasn’t this extreme.

He never grew this fast.

Of course, I hadn’t seen him since he left the County, but…

Even so, he definitely wasn’t this strong back then.

‘Is it because of me?’

The Dragon Rage Explosion [E] I used yesterday.

He survived it… and seemed to have realized something through it.

I don’t know exactly what it was.

Who could possibly understand what goes on in a lunatic’s head?

But what’s different from my previous life is—it’s not just me who has changed.

More precisely, as I changed, Kai began to change too.

A small ripple—me.

That ripple stirred up a whirlwind in Kai.

‘This makes it…’

A little harder to kill Kai.

Also, I realized that if I used Predation [S+] on Kai’s heart, I wouldn’t gain any ability.

Predation [S+] absorbs the origin of a power—the cause that brought it into existence.

In the case of monsters, it’s typically the mutation factor called madness.

For Kai, that cause would be Aura.

But I can’t wield Aura.

Just like I can’t use Mana Force either.

I can’t handle Mana itself as a form of energy.

That was the very reason I never consumed a human heart in my previous life.

Because there was no benefit.

I would just spiral into madness and rampage.

But it was different when it came to Monarchs and their Commanders.

Monarchs possessed a power known as Authority.

Commanders were beings who received power from such Monarchs.

Consuming them through Predation [S+] allowed me to gain a Monarch’s Authority and power.

Just one exception—Kai.

He didn’t receive power from Serapia.

He grew, surpassed, transcended—for Serapia—all on his own. Beating the drums and playing the guitar by himself.

‘Lunatic.’

Seriously, the craziest bastard I’ve ever met.

‘Kai shouldn’t be consumed.’

Anyway, there’s no longer a reason to consume Kai with Predation [S+].

At the same time, it became somewhat harder to kill him…

‘Well, that just means my chances of hunting down the Commander of the Beast Legion have increased.’

Now that it’s come to this, I decided to think positively.

Once Ian arrives, everything will be resolved anyway.

Right now, it was time to focus on the Commander of the Beast Legion.

“Did you find traces of the Legion?”

“Yeah.”

“Where are they now?”

“That, I don’t know.”

At my answer, Kai tilted his head.

“Didn’t you just say you found traces?”

“I said I found traces, not that I knew their current location, didn’t I?”

As I said, what I found were traces.

Signs that the one commanding the Legion is the Commander of the Beast Legion.

And intel suggesting the Commander is somewhere in the north right now.

“I don’t know where he is at this moment.”

“Then let’s search together.”

Kai took the lead as he said that.

Bursting with energy, this guy.

But I had no intention of doing that.

“No. I’m not going to search.”

Searching for the Monarch of Beasts, knowing he’s somewhere in the north?

If I had intended to do that, I wouldn’t have returned to the County.

I’d still be scouring the Snowy Mountains.

There was no way I could search the entire northern region.

Do you have any idea how vast it is?

I had to find Ian as soon as possible.

To do that, I needed to raise the Predator Merchant Group into the continent’s top merchant group.

There wasn’t much time left before the next expedition, and I had to raise the favorability of the territory’s residents to [Trust] within 90 days.

Right now, I needed to deal with the goblin horde.

I had no time to chase after the Commander of the Beast Legion.

“So you’re saying you won’t look for him?”

“Right. I’ll make him come to us.”

Kai tilted his head again.

It made sense.

Kai didn’t know who the Commander of the Beast Legion was.

But I used to be the Special Ops Commander.

I personally collected and managed intel on Monarchs and Commanders.

All that information is now in my head.

If the individual I’m thinking of is correct…

“For this raid, we’re taking one more person.”

There was a way to make the Commander of the Beast Legion come to us on his own.

A strange sensation tickled her eyes.

“Mmm…”

Eventually, Serapia’s elegant brows twitched, and her awareness slowly returned.

Beyond the dull sensation, she could feel the softness of the bed beneath her, and she realized she was lying on it.

But she couldn’t open her eyes.

She didn’t have the courage to.

Adrian—with both arms severed.

That horrific image, where his nerves hadn’t fully died and his limbs still twitched.

That gruesome scene replayed before her eyes, weighing down on her mind and heart.

To block it out, Serapia clenched her eyes shut even tighter.

From the deep corners of her tear-stained face, a drop fell.

“Sniff…”

She couldn’t accept it.

She couldn’t accept that Adrian was dead—

“Get ready the moment you wake up.”

A sudden voice rang out.

Serapia’s eyes shot open.

Her body was sluggish, her mind hazy—but through the slowly focusing vision, she saw a man.

“O-Oppa?!”

…It was Adrian.

Serapia’s body jolted upright.

“Weren’t you dead?! Did you come back to life?! How?!”

“Were you hoping I’d stay dead?”

“Of course not!!!”

She shouted so forcefully it was almost absurd.

Though her voice had risen, she stared him down with unwavering determination.

Perhaps because of that reaction, Adrian didn’t say much.

“But are you okay?! You’re not going to… die again, right?!”

“As you can see.”

Serapia’s eyes darted, quickly scanning Adrian’s condition.

His thick black bangs slightly drooped over his forehead.

Sharp, well-defined features.

A piercing gaze, radiating overwhelming charisma.

Long lashes and a sharp jawline.

And his muscular arms—completely intact.

“Haah…”

Seeing Adrian perfectly fine at last, Serapia could finally breathe in relief.

Perhaps Adrian had also been checking on her, as he spoke up shortly after.

“Then get ready and come out.”

He turned to leave the room.

“Get ready…?”

At her question, Adrian paused for a moment.

Then came his reply.

“You, me, and Kai—just the three of us are going to hunt down the head of the Legion.”

Serapia’s crimson eyes widened like lanterns.

Translatin_Otaku

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