The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - LLD Chapter 87: The King of the Underworld (1) (Part 1)

The area swept by Wrath of the Frenzied Dragon [L] was a ruin.

It was a vivid reminder that the [L] stood for Legendary—not without reason.

A rank above Dragon Rage Explosion [E], yet one below Mythical [M].

Thus, the skill ranks could be reorganized as follows:
Rare [R] < Unique [U] < Epic [E] < Legendary [L] < Mythical [M] < Primordial [P].

Every trace of Kraulgarr had been incinerated without exception.
All that remained were smoldering flames and heaps of ash.

If there was one saving grace, it was that the skill’s radius hadn’t increased.
In other words, its area of effect remained the same as Dragon Rage Explosion [E].

With 31,450 surplus Kcal burned, the damage radius was roughly 310 meters.
No one aside from Kraulgarr was harmed.

However, the destructive power had amplified immensely.
Base damage was multiplied by five.
At the epicenter, it rose to eight times that.

Naturally, the recoil was just as brutal—

“Guh…!”

My body was wrecked.

Blood gushed from between clenched lips.

The arm that had contained Wrath of the Frenzied Dragon [L] was gone up to the shoulder, and the heat I hadn’t managed to release still simmered within me like a volcano.
I had no stamina left. The recoil shattered both muscle and tendon.

Even worse, I had burned through every last calorie I had stored—

“““We greet the King of Baoless!!”””

…What now?

Just as that messy thought ran through my head—

◆ You have defeated Kraulgarr!
◆ You have gained 830,550 EXP!
◆ Your level has increased!

The message confirming Kraulgarr’s death floated before my eyes.
The EXP gain was over 830,000—more than both the Lycanthrope and Iratum had yielded.

He was indeed the true Commander of the Abyssal Legion.
And yet, my level only increased by +1.

To be fair, the higher one’s level, the more EXP was required—
Still…

‘That’s a bit much.’

Only +1 level? Seriously?

My current level was 76, including the increase.
And still, this is how absurd the required EXP was?

‘At this rate, only quests will help me level up.’

It really drove home how precious those “Large EXP Rewards” in quests actually were—
When suddenly.

“Are you alright?”

A gentle voice called out to me.

I turned my head. Isolde was cautiously approaching.

Her face and expression were hidden beneath her Ogre Mask.
Yet, through it, her eyes were clearly fixed on my broken form—

“If recovery is difficult, I can help.”

She took a firm step toward me.

But even as she approached, she stumbled several times.
She had overexerted herself protecting others and using transcendent holy power.

Frankly, she looked like she needed recovery more than I did—

“I’m fine. You should tend to yourself first, Lady Isolde.”
“I’m fine.”

…She really doesn’t listen.

Isolde stubbornly trudged forward.
From her hand, a golden aura of divine power enveloped me.

It clearly surpassed even my own Regeneration [B+], but—

“Holy power doesn’t work well on me, that’s why I said that.”

It had little effect.

As expected, the healing was minimal. There was no sign of immediate regeneration.

Isolde’s expression was as unreadable as ever.
But Find Weakness [U] told me her emotion was: “Confusion.”

“I have a peculiar constitution.”

Holy power is the ultimate form of Aura.
And aura is a usable form of mana.

But my body was incapable of using mana at all.

Not just incapable—
It outright rejected it.

Even when I raised my Mana stat via Solo Leveling [EX], it was meaningless.
Only the capacity increased. My MP remained permanently fixed at 0.

It wasn’t like pouring water into a bottomless jug—
It was like pouring into a jug sealed shut.

In that sense, my body could be called a “sealed vessel.”

So, no matter how miraculous holy power was—if it was rooted in aura and mana, it wouldn’t work on me.

Of course, I’d known this since my past life—
‘Still, I was hoping maybe…’

Nope.
Returning to the past hadn’t changed my body.

Leaving a bewildered Isolde behind, I opened my inventory and pulled out an oil flask.
I was just about to ask her to feed me that instead of using holy power when—

‘Hm?’

I noticed my left arm was intact.

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t “fine.”
But it was functional.

Wrath of the Frenzied Dragon [L] concentrated energy into one arm.
Thus, only that arm bore the brunt of the backlash.

Meaning I could now recover on my own—without external help—
using my remaining arm to replenish calories and trigger Regeneration [B+].

Once again—

I had surpassed my limits.

Gulp. Gulp.

As I replenished calories with my left hand, the wounds ignored by divine power began to heal rapidly under Regeneration [B+].

Isolde simply stood there, watching me.

“…….”

Was she thinking her holy power was less useful than discarded waste oil?

Suddenly, she ripped off her Ogre Mask—

“How is that even possible?”

She questioned me—almost accusingly.

She was the Saintess with the strongest holy power in continental history.
And yet her power hadn’t even matched expired motor oil?

That truth seemed too much for her to accept.

According to Find Weakness [U], her emotion was… self-doubt?

‘So she’s not emotionless—she just doesn’t show it.’

Apparently so.

“If Lady Isolde uses divine power, I use calories to heal.”
“You’re saying something like that is possible—with just calories?”
“Calories are a far greater energy source than most people think.”

People usually associate calories with weight gain, but in truth, they’re incredibly potent.

Borrowing the wisdom of the Allied Army’s Archmage—

–1 Kcal = enough heat to raise 1L of water by 1°C.

That amount of thermal energy equals the explosive energy of 1g of material.

So 1,000 Kcal = 1kg of explosive force.

My body can store up to 100,000 Kcal.
That’s the equivalent of a 100kg explosion—enough to dig a 100m-wide, 6m-deep crater.

–The energy needed to maintain 36.5°C body temperature around the clock can’t be small.

Calories: the energy of life.

An absolutely tremendous power source.

“…….”

Isolde didn’t seem fully convinced.

The oil flask was empty now.
But my right arm had regenerated successfully through Regeneration [B+].

Still injured in many other places, I went to pull out another oil flask from my inventory—

BOOM—!

A massive rumble shook the ground.

Then came an intense burst of heat and energy.

Isolde and I locked eyes, both suddenly alert.

Don’t tell me… Kraulgarr isn’t dead?

BOOM—!

Another quake.
We both snapped our heads around instinctively.

And there, amidst the ashes of the once-mighty Kraulgarr—

BOOM—!

Something shaped like a heart was pulsing.

BOOM—!

With each throb, the air and ground around it trembled violently.

Translatin_Otaku

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