The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - LLD Chapter 71: Spoils of War (3) (Part 1)

Concept Skill, Infinite [M].

If my guess is correct, this was one of the Authorities held by the Monarch of the Abyss.
And in my previous life, it was an ability I couldn’t even use Predation [S+] on.

◆ Infinite [M]
: A state in which a certain concept becomes infinite, without end.
Based on the player’s [Understanding of Infinity], you can attempt to merge it with a specific concept.
When merged, that concept is transformed into an Infinite state.

The classification [M] signified Myth,
a tier above [L], which stood for Legend.

This was also a skill absorbed through using Predation [S+] on Avarus.

Judging from the skill’s description, I could now understand how Avarus had managed to wield infinite stamina and mana.

In other words, not even broken abilities had anything on this.

‘Concept Skill?’

Concept Skill—
It was a type I had never obtained in my previous life.

Of course, since it was one of the Monarch of the Abyss’s Authorities, that was natural.
But perhaps because of that, I had no clear idea what kind of skill it was, or how to use it.

Still, if I borrowed the knowledge of the Allied Forces’ Hero, the Archmage—

“A concept is an abstract generalization drawn inductively from concrete facts. It encompasses things like philosophy, language, psychology, and logic.”

As expected.

The explanation and memory made no sense.
But forcing myself to recall from my past life—

“For a simple example, think of the category ‘dog.’ There are countless types of dogs that fall under that label.

Big dogs, small dogs, aggressive dogs, purebreds, mutts, hunting dogs, military dogs, yellow dogs, and so on—

Yet we ignore all those specific traits and simply call them ‘dogs.’

It’s a generalization based on shared genetic traits.”

“In this way, a generalized classification of a group is what we call a ‘concept.’”

And it’s not limited to things that physically exist.
Concepts also encompass things like thoughts, time, gods, and transcendent beings—things unseen.

“In that sense, the word ‘concept’ itself is also a concept.”

From this, I could infer:

The Concept Skill Infinite [M] must be a skill created by generalizing the abstract concept of infinity.

And so, when I activated Infinite [M]—

◆ Error: The player’s Understanding of Infinity is too low. Unable to merge with the concept ‘Strength.’

…For some reason, it didn’t work.

Apparently, just knowing the concept of infinity wasn’t enough.
I needed to understand it.

It was like calling something a “dog” without knowing whether it was big or small, purebred or mutt—you’d have no idea what kind of dog it actually was.

Maybe that was why—

◆ Error: The player’s Understanding of Infinity is too low. Unable to merge with the concept ‘Agility.’

◆ Error: The player’s Understanding of Infinity is too low. Unable to merge with the concept ‘Stamina.’

◆ Error: The player’s Understanding of Infinity is too low. Unable to merge with the concept ‘Mana.’

……None of them worked.

Not only Strength and Agility, but even Stamina and Mana—
the very things Avarus had used in infinite quantities—refused to fuse.

It seemed the scope of application changed depending on my [Understanding of Infinity].
It was a Concept Skill, after all.

Apparently, what needed to level up wasn’t the skill proficiency, but the understanding itself.

‘So I can’t use it right now.’

A pie in the sky. A beautifully polished but useless fruit.

Still, there had to be a reason the skill was ranked [M] for Myth.
Even just from the description, its potential was absurd.

Eventually, I’d find a way to make it work.

‘He really is different from the Monarch of Beasts.’

The Monarch of the Abyss—
a terror that defied explanation.

His Authority was no exception.

Absorbing such a power was no simple feat.
Honestly, without my ability Player’s Will [EX], I might’ve died.

My mental strength wasn’t something even Regeneration [B+] could restore,
so I had no way of protecting myself otherwise.

Now I understood why the system text had made such a fuss.
Player’s Will [EX] didn’t grant complete immunity, after all.

Fortunately, my mind didn’t shatter.
But it had been dangerously close.

The whispers that gnawed at my sanity,
almost as if they knew the blind spot in Player’s Will [EX]—

And in that illusion… someone appeared.
I couldn’t see the face, but—

‘They called him a Hero.’

He referred to himself as a “Hero.”
Or more precisely, others within the illusion called him that.

And to my knowledge, there was only one person who bore the title of Hero.

‘Ian.’

That would mean the voice I just heard, and the one who appeared in the illusion—was Ian.

‘…That can’t be right.’

It made no sense.

Obviously, that wasn’t Ian’s voice.
Not the nuance, tone, or style of speech—none of it matched.

Besides, that voice had only become audible after I used Predation [S+] on the strange being called Z’thulonak.
In other words, it was a hallucination and whisper born from the Authority of the Monarch of the Abyss.

So if that illusion was Ian?

That would mean Ian was the Monarch of the Abyss.

‘That’s ridiculous.’

True, no one in the Allied Forces had ever actually seen the Monarch of the Abyss, but—

‘No way.’

Of this, I was certain.
It was a hypothesis not even worth considering.

Still, the fact remained: the illusionary figure had been called a “Hero.”

‘Ian probably knows something.’

The only one who’d ever faced the Monarch of the Abyss directly—Ian.
If anyone knew the truth, it was him.

That gave me one more reason to reunite with Ian as soon as possible.

Having reached that conclusion, I looked around—

And saw Kai standing nearby like a tree rooted to the earth, stunned.

His face was frozen in disbelief as he looked at me.

“You… weren’t dead?”

He was saying the exact same thing Serapia had said last time.
At this point, someone might mistake the two of them for siblings instead of me.

“I resurrected.”

“…Huh? Uh… what?”

Kai blinked as if trying to make sense of my words, but I ignored him.

To be honest, I couldn’t offer a better explanation anyway.

I passed him by and scanned the surroundings once more.

The main dish might’ve been out of reach—just a pie in the sky,
but—

‘Might as well scrape up every last crumb.’

Translatin_Otaku

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