The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - LLD Chapter 74: Threads of Fate (Part 2)

Adelon went completely blank, as if his spirit had left his body.

Hard to blame him—just what was on the counter totaled 1.1 million gold.
That was equivalent to a year’s revenue for an entire merchant company.

And I was tossing that kind of money around like pocket change.
Adelon’s brain simply couldn’t keep up.

But compared to the money sitting in the Infinite Inventory, it was… well, maybe not trivial, but not that much either.

“Anything tedious that comes up during the request—just dump it on this golden leech here. I’ve got business to attend to, so I’m heading out.”

Leaving the dazed Adelon behind, I stepped out of the shop.

As soon as I left Adelon’s shop—

“Where are you going?”

The golden leech, Kai, quickly followed after me and asked.

“I told you already. I’m heading to the Lawless City.”
“Then I’ll go with you—”
“You’re staying here and helping Adelon. There’s going to be noise—this isn’t the kind of money that flows quietly.”
“……”

“When the medicine is finished, treat Serapia immediately.”
“…Understood.”

Kai looked a bit disappointed, but still nodded without complaint.

Strangely enough, Kai’s attitude toward me had changed completely from before.
The fact that he tried to stick to me like glue and come along to the Lawless City was already suspicious.

But maybe it was for Serapia’s sake—he agreed to remain in Frecce.
And despite the heavy demands I gave him, Kai showed not a hint of struggle or resentment.

Looking at him closely—

“You’re something else.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“You never closed your eyes even once in the Infinite Labyrinth.”

As for me, I had Regeneration [B+], so I could keep recovering from physical exhaustion.
And thanks to Player’s Will [EX], I could also endure mental fatigue.

But Kai didn’t have that luxury.

He had undying Reliance [E], but that required a constant drain on his Aura.
And Aura wasn’t something you could just refill like calories.

The mental fatigue of 241 days must’ve been immense—
And yet Kai had not once closed his eyes or even dozed off.

“Maintaining sleepless guard is a basic virtue of a knight.”
“What kind of knight order teaches that kind of crap as a basic virtue?”

Sure, sleepless guard duty was part of a knight’s discipline.
I even made my Special Task Force members undergo sleepless training.

In combat situations, there were plenty of times you simply couldn’t afford to sleep.

But not like this.
At most, 3 to 4 days.
Even in extreme cases, never more than a week.

What kind of knight order on the continent forces 241 days of sleepless duty?

And wait—
“Hold on, you were guarding me this whole time?”
“Only at first.”
“You were guarding me?”
“That’s right. Whenever you used the Dragon’s Power in the Infinite Labyrinth, you were completely defenseless until you regenerated.”

…Okay, fair point.

When I lost both arms, I couldn’t even use Dragon’s Claw [A].
It really was my most vulnerable state.

Avarus would fire his tendrils during that brief window of weakness—
And Kai always protected me in those moments.
Even going so far as to cut off flesh and put it into my mouth so I could consume calories.

Of course—

“Eventually, I didn’t need to do that and just focused on guarding you.”

Only until the point where I got used to chewing on the meat off the floor.

…Thinking back, Avarus didn’t only attack me.
Most attacks were aimed at me, sure—
But that didn’t mean Kai was just standing around.

Thanks to that, he was able to train as well.

“And I had to keep maintaining the light with Aura, remember?”

Which also meant he could continue Aura training.

In the pitch-black Infinite Labyrinth, not a single ray of light entered.
Kai had to constantly regulate the light from his Aura to secure visibility for me.

“I had no choice but to focus on controlling it so I wouldn’t run out of Aura. In that sense…”

Ssspaahh—!

In that instant, a deep-blue light of condensed Aura burst forth from Kai’s sword.
But it wasn’t just ordinary Aura—the density was on a whole different level.

“Aura Blade?”
“You recognized it at a glance, as expected.”

Kai looked at me with eyes full of admiration.
But really, that should be my line.

I should be the one more surprised here.

Aura Blade.
It was a technique that didn’t just wrap a sword in Aura—it compressed it.

But let’s not forget what Aura truly is.

It’s a ridiculous power that drags the abstract constructs of one’s imagination into reality.

Depending on what kind of imagination it embodies, the results vary, but generally speaking—Aura Blades can cut through almost anything.

Well… not entirely anything, to be fair.
There are a few exceptions.
Like that rune-forged metal I saw in Avarus’s secret vault.

That’s one of the few metals that can withstand an Aura Blade.

Withstand, that is—not block it completely.
It just takes a little more time.

In other words, given enough time, an Aura Blade can slice through even rune-forged metal.

In terms of cutting power, it rivals a dragon’s claw—and in some cases, even surpasses it.
Meaning it’s comparable to my own [Dragon’s Claw].

And that’s not all.
Beyond its raw cutting ability, it can also release explosive shockwaves, capable of damaging areas beyond the sword’s direct path depending on how it’s used.

Naturally, it’s not a skill that’s easy to use.

It demands vivid imagination.
Absolute faith in one’s Aura.
And above all, extraordinarily delicate control over Aura itself.
That’s why they call it the mark of a Master.

In other words—

“I, too, have reached a new realm.”

Kai meant that he’d become a full-fledged Knight of Master rank.
I wasn’t the only one who had grown during those 241 days in the Infinite Labyrinth.

Of course, 241 days isn’t exactly a short time.
Maintaining your Aura under constant tension for that long is no easy feat.

“It’s all thanks to you, Lord Adrian.”

…Even so, this guy really is insane.

Wait a minute.

“Thanks to me?”
“You helped me maintain my Aura without overexerting myself, did you not?”

…That’s true, I guess.

Just as Kai had protected me when I was vulnerable, I’d protected him too.
Actually, you could say I’d protected him more.

But that was only because I would’ve been in danger if Kai’s light went out.
It wasn’t out of some noble intent to help him grow.

“More importantly, I survived in there because of you.”

Kai bowed his head again as he said this.

Was he remembering what I’d said back at the mansion?
He didn’t outright say “thank you.”

Still, thanks to my interference, Kai’s growth was outpacing even his progress in the previous life.

‘At this rate, he might really surpass the Commander of the Frost Legion.’

Even now, I could tell he was close—but if he actually surpassed him, it’d be trouble.
The Commander of the Frost Legion was practically a walking nightmare.
And now Kai might outdo even that?

Well, I had surpassed my old Predator self too, so…

“Once again, I sincerely thank you for stepping forward for Lady Serapia and the County.”

◆ Kai’s favorability toward you has increased!

◆ Kai’s favorability is now at [Trust].
◆ A person in the [Trust] state fully believes in and relies on you, and will follow you without question.

◆ Kai will willingly endure personal losses for your sake.

…

Yeah. I should probably avoid taking this guy around with me too often.

The chapel was quiet and solemn.

Soft candlelight lined the walls, casting a gentle glow, and at the center altar stood a woman dressed in pure white robes.

Her head was bowed, as if in prayer.

Her name—

Isolde Cordelia.
A princess of the Holy Kingdom and the 213th Saintess.

A young priest walked forward with quiet steps toward the central altar.

“Your Holiness, I have something to report.”

At his call, Isolde gently raised her head.

Eyes like golden topaz waited for him to continue.

“This comes from the Eye of the Pilgrim, which was observing the Lawless City.”

Eye of the Pilgrim.
A secret order of the Holy Kingdom tasked with monitoring foreign heretics and anti-religious movements.

They were spread throughout the continent, gathering intelligence and eliminating threats before they could grow.

“The head of the Predator Merchant Group has appeared in the Lawless City.”

Translatin_Otaku

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