The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - LLD Chapter 79: Misunderstanding (Part 1)

The group who’d tried to stab me earlier and got themselves wrecked in the process—

Those guys were part of the Black Grasp.

“There was a bit of a clash with the Black Grasp.”

I told them the truth about what had just happened.
It wasn’t a lie, after all—it was a real event, so there was nothing odd about saying it.

In a lawless city like this, retaliations like that were nothing new.
And in their minds, they were already firmly convinced that I was Avarus.

“I dealt with them. There was a bit of a commotion during the process.”

I gestured toward the scene that could only be described as a massacre.
Most of the carnage was my doing, but traces of Isolde’s handiwork—flesh and blood—were mixed in here and there.

The Acata glanced over the scene of slaughter, the completely wrecked alley, and the shattered surroundings—

“Truly…!”
“He really is an Executor!”
“The one who received his True Name directly from Him!”

Their eyes sparkled with admiration behind their masks.

“Looks like he took down over a hundred.”
“Not just any group either, but a hundred from the Black Grasp?”
“Those guys aren’t pushovers…”
“Especially in Transmog form?!”

The way they were fussing over it could’ve been mistaken for a system message floating in the air—

‘Maybe I overdid it.’

That feeling was hard to deny.

Maybe that’s why—

“““Absolutely incredible!”””

The Acata now didn’t just believe in me—they worshipped me.

Shadow Alley.

This was the place where covert requests flowed—espionage missions, secret intel trades between kingdoms, and assassination contracts.
The darkest, most secretive area in all of Baoless.

As I stepped into Shadow Alley—

The first thing that greeted me was a tangled maze of crisscrossing paths.

The ground was covered in dust and trash.
The walls reeked of mold and were soaked with moisture.

Even the mana lamps weren’t functioning properly, flickering dimly, leaving most of the alley shrouded in darkness.

In one corner, figures cloaked in black were conducting a quiet transaction.

They flinched at the sound of my approach, their bodies stiffening.
Their eyes, as they turned to me, were filled with suspicion and wariness.

I ignored them and walked deeper in—

And then I felt it.
A strange presence brushing against my senses.

It was deliberate. Intentionally revealed.

And sure enough, between some strange graffiti scrawled across a wall, I spotted Isolde wearing her white stag mask.

Her outfit was still the same as it had been after our fight.
It seemed she hadn’t had the time—or the opportunity—to change.

‘Looks like she had another scuffle in the meantime.’

Around her were five or six bloodied men, clearly the kind who had tried to assault her.

That sort of thing wasn’t uncommon in a lawless city.

I took out the pouch that once held gold coins from my inventory.
Using Dragon’s Claw [A], I sliced it up just enough to make a makeshift cloak big enough to cover her.

When I handed it to Isolde—

She didn’t take it. She just stared at me in silence.
Through the mask, her golden eyes—like topaz—watched me closely.

She was still suspicious of me.

“As you saw earlier, I’m not part of the Dark Merchant Group. In fact, I’m their enemy.”

Isolde didn’t reply immediately—
Clack.
—but then, without warning, she removed the white stag mask.

Revealing her face, slowly—

Platinum-blonde hair that gleamed even in the dark.
Lips tinted a soft, rose-pink hue like a tulip.
Flawless, ivory-white skin as pure as a lily.
And delicate, sculpted features that seemed too perfect to be real.

Her expression was unreadable, cold as ice—

But now, just like before, her beauty stood unrivaled.
No—overwhelming.

It made sense.

Isolde was a Saint, an Agent of God.
And an agent of a supreme, immortal deity couldn’t afford to be anything less than breathtaking.

She had the love and devotion of all the faithful—
Her appearance was shaped by Divine Power, the ultimate form of aura.

Moreover, Divine Power was the result of the [collective imagination] of the faithful.
That meant her beauty transcended individual, subjective tastes.

Everyone, no matter who they were, would be entranced by Isolde.
Even those who weren’t would still find themselves drawn to her, regardless of species.

There was a reason that the groups had obsessed over her.

That said, while I wasn’t immune to her beauty, it didn’t mean I harbored any deeper feelings for her.

First and foremost, she was a superior officer.
Not a direct one, but as a Commander of the Holy Command, she outranked me by far.

More importantly—
Isolde was someone Ian once had feelings for.
To put it simply, she was my superior’s woman.
My friend’s woman.
Even if he’d never managed to date her, and she’d rejected him.

As I gazed at her with a calm, indifferent look—

“…I’m sorry.”

Isolde lowered her head.

“I thought you were a high-ranking member of the Dark Merchant Group.”

So my guess was right.

And the fact that she was apologizing now—

“Then does that mean you believe I’m not one of them anymore?”

“Yes.”

She answered without a hint of hesitation.
Honestly, I didn’t expect her to accept it so easily.

I thought I’d have to show proof and argue my case repeatedly,
but instead, she believed me without resistance.

It was unexpected…
But that made things simpler.

“Then, I’d like to ask you a few questions.”

“Go ahead.”

Isolde looked willing to answer anything I asked.

Through a few simple questions, I was able to find out why Isolde was here—
and why she misunderstood me and tried to kill me.

I got all the answers I needed.

‘To think rumors about monster meat had already spread all the way to the Holy Kingdom.’

It hadn’t reached Ian’s ears, but Isolde’s.
That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
After all, it gave me the chance to meet someone I would rarely get to—Isolde, Princess of the Holy Kingdom.

In other words, the Predator Merchant Group’s strategy was working exactly as intended.

“By the way, did you come to the No-Go Zone alone?”

“Yes.”

I had expected as much, but hearing it out loud still left me speechless.
Coming alone to a place as lawless and dangerous as this—where even adventurers feared to tread—was madness, especially for a woman.

Of course, Isolde wasn’t an ordinary woman.
She was still a princess of the Holy Kingdom.
For someone of such noble standing to move alone?
You could say it was reckless, at best—

‘She hasn’t changed a bit.’

But that’s who Isolde was—a hero who, if she deemed something dangerous, would step in and deal with it herself.

That was because Isolde didn’t trust anyone else.
No, rather than mistrusting them, she viewed others as people she had to protect.

She was the princess and saint of the Holy Kingdom.
The one who bore the hopes and faith of countless citizens—the agent of the divine.

From childhood—no, from birth—Isolde had carried the weight of people’s expectations.
So she never allowed herself the luxury of faltering or showing weakness.

She believed her purpose was to sacrifice herself to protect others.
She endured loneliness and isolation in silence, never revealing her pain.

‘That’s why Ian liked her.’

And that’s why she pushed Ian away.
Isolde never relied on others, never leaned on them.
She has the omni vessel [M].
Which meant, in another sense, she was a vessel that carried everything alone.

In any case—

She hadn’t changed at all from the Isolde I remembered.
Right now, I might be nothing more than the disgrace of the House of Whitewolf, but Isolde was still just… Isolde.

And with that thought—

An idea struck me.

“I understand why it looked bad, but I seriously almost died.”

“I’m truly sorry.”

Isolde bowed her head again.
Though she didn’t show her emotions easily, I could tell she was sincere.

‘…This is a bit awkward.’

It caught me completely off guard.
Even back in our Allied Forces days, I’d never received such a heartfelt apology from her.
Especially not from that stiff and stoic Holy Commander.

I was a bit dumbfounded.
Part of me even wondered if this was really okay.
But still, I shook my head.

Regardless of rank, it was a fact that she’d tried to kill me without warning—an undeniable mistake.

“If you grant me one request, I’ll consider letting this slide.”

“If it’s within my ability, I’ll do anything.”

Translatin_Otaku

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