The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - LLD Chapter 78: The Saintess of the Allied Forces (2) (Part 2)

That made even less sense.
He wasn’t using any holy power at all.

And that led to the third and final point—

Adrian’s red eyes were locked onto Isolde.
The moment she met those maddened, frenzied eyes—

‘Ah.’

Isolde felt the hairs on her body stand on end.
There was something different about Adrian now.
Completely unlike just moments before.
It was as if she were facing a natural predator of mankind—
No, something that reigned above all living beings.

A primal fear of life itself.

It only lasted an instant.
But Isolde saw herself overwhelmed in that brief moment.
Her whole body stiffened, refusing to move at will.

Whoosh—!
The sound of the wind brushing past.
Before she realized it, Adrian was right in front of her.

His movement was completely different from earlier.
No—beyond anything imaginable.

Isolde quickly swung her right fist.
But Adrian’s foot landed first, kicking her straight in the abdomen.

BOOM—!

Isolde twisted midair, regaining her balance with a full spin.
She was momentarily shaken but not unable to respond.

She gathered divine power at the tips of her toes midair,
Then twisted her waist and spun.

As the gathered holy energy burst—
A radiant light exploded from her foot, scattering like flower petals as it swept forward.

Divine Martial Fist, Malenia-style.
Blossom Pulsus.

But she didn’t stop there.
She channeled divine energy into her gauntlets and unleashed a flurry of punches, detonating each one.

Divine Martial Fist, Bianca-style.
Holy Purge Assault.

KA-KA-KA-KA-KABOOM!!

A searing pain tore through her hands.
No—her palms were literally tearing apart.

And yet—

Adrian charged through the explosions with his bare body, without a moment’s hesitation.
His strange movements unfolded—
As if his body had no joints at all.

And when Adrian extended his hand—

KRAAAAAASH—!!

His hand collided with Isolde’s gauntlet.
A clash of pure force.
He didn’t budge.
Adrian pressed forward.

He moved silently.
Adrian recklessly exposed one shoulder—

THWACK! CRACK!

—and tore into Isolde’s abdomen.

A burst and a rip rang out at once.
The shock of it struck her consciousness.

She had forgotten…
That Adrian, too, could fight like her.

“Ghk…!”

A groan escaped her tightly clenched lips.
Divine power could heal any injury—
But it couldn’t erase the pain.

Meanwhile, Adrian—

Moved without restraint.

Judging by the damage, Adrian was more injured.
His entire shoulder had been blown off—nearly a fatal wound.

It wouldn’t be strange if he collapsed from the pain.
Yet Adrian didn’t so much as flinch.

SWISH—!

Instead, he lunged, slicing the air.
Adrian’s forearm flew toward Isolde—
But upon closer look, it wasn’t his forearm.

It was the remnant of his exploded shoulder.
Though detached, it retained all of Adrian’s physical capabilities.

In other words, Adrian was using parts of his body as weapons.

That… Isolde couldn’t deal with that.

A combat style she had never encountered.
Could that even be called possible?

Even madness had limits.
Isolde flinched and retreated in shock.

Adrian seized that tiny gap.

SLASH—!

Her light armor was completely shredded.
Only the cloth binding her chest barely covered her skin—
But neither of them cared.

Adrian didn’t even glance at it.
His crimson eyes never left Isolde’s movements.

…She couldn’t seize the momentum.

Clenching against the pain like her organs were ripping apart,
Isolde charged again.

She could still fight.

BAAAAAAM!

Holy power exploded at point-blank range.
A heavy backlash surged forward.

Adrian didn’t dodge.
His crimson eyes, glowing faintly, still followed her.

Rather than evade, he chose to confront.

Was he planning to end it here?
Drawing this out wouldn’t favor Isolde either.

She responded in kind.

But then—

…Can I win?

That thought suddenly crossed her mind.

No matter how she looked at it—
She couldn’t believe she could win.

Had she ever felt this kind of doubt before?

Not once, she was certain.

Sacred holy energy swirled around Isolde’s gauntlets.
Shaking off her thoughts, she struck—

BOOM! THWACK!

Her healed abdomen was torn again.
Adrian’s regenerated shoulder burst once more.

But this time—
It wasn’t pain that struck her first. It was doubt.

‘Why didn’t he aim for the heart?’

Hesitation? Reluctance? Inexperience?
She couldn’t tell for sure.
But Adrian had clearly avoided her heart.

Success aside, aiming for it would’ve been the most effective.

As that doubt lingered—

“Executor-nim!!”

A loud voice rang out.

A masked figure of the Dark Merchant Guild, an Acata, revealed himself.

…Too much noise.

Even in a lawless city, even in a quiet alley, this much chaos couldn’t go unnoticed.

She hadn’t planned to drag this out.
But Adrian had turned out to be far stronger than expected.

Just handling him alone was overwhelming.
Now she couldn’t possibly deal with the masked Acata as well.

If she were caught here, it would be over.

This was a city where people died every day—
And no one cared.

If caught, it would be the end.
She had to escape now.

But would Adrian let her?

“Executor-nim! Are you alright?!”

The Vister was already upon them.

As Isolde was summoning her divine power—

“3 a.m. Shadow Alley.”

Adrian’s sudden voice broke the tension.

At some point, he had donned a mask that covered his entire face.

Then he turned and reached for the Acata—

CRACK—!

—and tore out his heart.

The Acata died without even knowing why.
The confusion on his face said it all—‘Why…?’

And in that moment—
Isolde realized something.

“Hurry!”

…She had made a grave mistake. A massive misunderstanding.

That was way too close.

◆Surplus Calories – 520Kcal◆

His calories were nearly depleted.
One or two more exchanges and it would’ve been the end.

He almost died trying to subdue Isolde.

So, truthfully, he was planning to escape.
But thankfully, a Dark Mask Acata* showed up just in time.
That seemed to clear up some of the misunderstanding, but—

“This way!”
“The signal came from here!”

It wasn’t over yet.
More Masked Aketas would be swarming soon.

After confirming that Isolde was fleeing,
He completely destroyed the identity of the Acata whose heart he’d torn out.

Then, he took out a flask of oil from his inventory and gulped it down.

He tore out chunks of his flesh and scattered blood everywhere.

Within moments, it looked like a brutal massacre had taken place.

Soon, the Aketas rushed into the scene—

“The Black Grasp bastards came after me for revenge.”

Using the actual events,
He weaved a believable scenario.

Translatin_Otaku

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