The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - LLD Chapter 65: Mystery of Nothingness (2) (Part 1)

Screeech—! Crackle—!

The grotesque sound of skin tearing continued to ring in our ears.

Kai and I kept moving forward, following the path indicated by the mass of flesh.

Eventually, after walking for some time,
a chunk of flesh—not in front of us, but to the side—began to churn and opened up with a wet squelch.
A faint glow seeped out from beyond it.

It looked almost like an exit.

Naturally, both Kai and I were about to stop walking…
When it happened.

Chrrrrk, squelch—!

The veins of the [Rulebook] squirmed once again, and a new rule surfaced.

3. There is no exit here.

: If something appears to be an exit, do not stop. Ignore it completely.

No exit…?

“What will you do?”

Kai asked, after reading the [Rulebook].
He meant to say he would follow my orders, but I was deeply conflicted myself.

I had two options:

Trust the contents of this [Rulebook] and keep walking,
or ignore the [Rulebook] and jump into that glowing passage.

“If you order it, I’ll enter the glow first.”

Kai’s determined expression said it all.
He was ready to rush in at my command.

Maybe it was because our Affinity was at [Friendly],
but he clearly had a lot of faith in me.

Or rather, he trusted in his own skill: [Dependency: Undying (E)].
As long as Serapia lived, Kai wouldn’t die easily.

That made it even harder to decide.
More than anything, the idea that there is no exit made no sense at all.

I checked the Rulebook again.

“…For now, we’ll follow what it says.”

“Understood.”

Kai obeyed without question.

Ignoring the exit-like glow, we pressed on.

Relying only on Kai’s blue Aura, we walked forward for who knows how long.

Even my sense of time had become distorted—
I couldn’t tell how much time had passed.

“Wait.”

I came to a stop.

Kai halted too, and his Aura illuminated the surroundings as I took a look around.

Maybe it was just a feeling, but…

“I feel like we’ve been walking in circles.”

It was like we were looping back to the same spot over and over.
As if our sense of direction had been completely lost.

Kai seemed to sense it too, and after glancing around, he said,

“I’ll try leaving a mark.”

He started looking for a spot to carve something.
It was a common strategy when lost.

“No… It’s useless.”

That wouldn’t work here.
According to [Rule 1], this space could erase or distort any traces left behind.

“Then what do you plan to do?”

In response to Kai’s question, I raised my [Dragon’s Claw (A)].
Then I tore off a chunk of the fleshy wall—

SKREEEEEEECH—!!

A chilling scream rang out as the flesh split apart.

“What are you doing?”

“I need to check something.”

I raised [Dragon’s Claw (A)] again and ripped off more of the wall.

SKREEEEEEECH—!!

The same scream, again.
It was unbearable to hear.

Not that it caused any mental damage per se—
but it was extremely, deeply unpleasant.

And yet, Kai didn’t so much as flinch.

“This sound… doesn’t bother you?”

“It’s quite unpleasant.”

“Then how are you—?”

“I’m protecting my ears with Aura.”

…What a convenient function Aura has.
It can realize anything the user imagines, after all.

Why can’t I use Aura…

SKREEEEEEECH—!!

I tore another piece away—
And then it happened.

Chrrrrk, squelch!

The torn flesh wall regenerated, and strange symbols began to form across its surface.

Symbols whose meanings I couldn’t comprehend or interpret.

‘That’s…’

But somehow, I recognized them.
Not their meaning—just the fact that I’d seen them before.

As I focused harder—

【Ng’gha fhtagn, I’ ahorn wgah’nagl.】

A voice I didn’t understand whispered into my ear.

Yet I recognized it.

I didn’t know what it meant,
but I had heard this voice before.

If my memory was right…

Among the six Monarchs who serve the Emperor…

‘The Monarch of the Abyss?’

An unknowable terror that defies all explanation: the Monarch of the Abyss.
That whisper—
it was the voice of the Monarch of the Abyss.

【Tharanak li’hee fhtagn’nun.】

This… was dangerous.

I must never, under any circumstances, confront the Monarch of the Abyss.
I had to escape—now.

I knew this. But—

My body wouldn’t move.
It wasn’t just fear or trembling.
My entire nervous system felt paralyzed.

The air around me became saturated with despair and whispers—
the whispers spiraled into an unknowable fear—
that fear became an indescribable wave—
and that wave…

Destroyed my mind.

My cognition could no longer comprehend what was happening.
Even trying to understand caused my sanity to collapse.

As nightmares from a past life merged with the present—

Only then…
did I finally understand Ian’s words.

What I was seeing before me—

Was the last evil, rising from the heart of eternity, whispering chaos.

The thing clawing into my mind—

Translatin_Otaku

•