The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - LLD Chapter 88: The King of the Underworld (2) (Part 1)

Once the chaos had settled, the Red Banquet of the Red-Light District arrived belatedly.

And when they began asserting control over Baoless, what came to mind for Sarpedon, Leader of the Black Grasp Vister, was—frankly—opportunity.

The absolute rule of Baoless was might.

By that standard, the blood-drenched man who had felled the enormous evil threatening Baoless was worthy of becoming its absolute ruler.

But as they say—when a nameless man wears the crown amid the ruins of a fallen kingdom…

“The spoils left behind by giants always end up in the hands of dwarves.”

The matron of the Red Banquet, Lyla, exploited that very gap.

Two giants had been vying for supremacy over Baoless.
One had fallen.
The other had exhausted himself.

A wounded Ogre.

Like a pack of wolves that can hunt even tigers when united, Trolls gathered as one can hunt an Ogre.

There’s no winning against numbers.

No matter how skilled you are—when enough enemies pile on, exhaustion is inevitable.

There were thousands of Visters gathered here.
A force that could only be described as an army.
An injured Ogre was well within their hunting range.

Sarpedon quietly gauged the mood and slowly rose from his knees.

And then—

KWAHHHH—!!

He saw the man cloaked in the aura of black-red flames.

And in that moment, Sarpedon understood.

Even if the Trolls had formed an army—

KWAANG!

—they could never hunt a Dragon.

The man had somehow grabbed Lyla by the nape.

And slammed her into the ground.

The earth cratered as soil blasted into the air.

With a casual flick of his hand, the man tore the landscape apart.

The shockwave shredded the charging Visters to pieces. All that remained were groans from the fallen.

“You bastard!!”
“Die!!”

More members rushed in with axes, but the man twisted his body fluidly and kicked the frontmost one in the knee.

CRACK!
The member’s leg bent backward grotesquely as he crumpled—

SPLAT!
Another member’s chest was torn open, blood splattering in every direction.

There was no mercy in his hands.
Only merciless instinct.

Every blow from the man inflicted fatal wounds, toppling the red banquet’s members like rag dolls.

“Wh-What the…!”
“GYAAAH!”

Screams echoed in all directions.
The man’s movements couldn’t even be seen.

Yet one by one, the Red Banquet Vister’s members were bleeding, sprawled across the floor.

Some collapsed on the spot, shivering.
Underneath them, puddles of urine were forming.

His eyes glowed crimson—like they were dyed in blood.
The black-red aura cloaking his body blazed like a raging fire.

Sarpedon gulped unconsciously.

That was… no human.
But not a Dragon either.

Not human. Not Dragon.

Something that reigned above all living things.

Whatever it was, Sarpedon couldn’t say. He could only feel it.

And now—

Not a single member from the Red Banquet was left standing.
Hundreds had been laid low.

And the time it took?

Barely even 3 minutes…?
No—not even that.

…It was overwhelming.

Overwhelming?

Could that even explain it?

It was a power that seemed beyond this world.
Absurd. Inexplicable.

The man shook blood from his hand.

He slowly surveyed his surroundings, eyes landing on Sarpedon and the Black Grasp members.

“You planning to come at me too?”

Sarpedon dropped flat to the ground.

“Absolutely not!!!”

Even that wasn’t enough—he slammed his head to the floor again and again!

He couldn’t risk offending the man.
Had he already offended him?

“Challenge the King?! I would never! I haven’t even thought about it!! I swear I won’t dare stand against you!!”

His forehead cracked as he slammed it repeatedly into the ground.

…He’d lost his mind a little.

The words were so vile they were disgusting to even think, let alone say.

Words not worth considering—I flushed them from my mind.

And then swept my gaze across the people groveling at my feet.

‘No Acata among them.’

No sign of the grey-masked them—that is, the Acata of the Dark Merchant Group.

They were probably offered as sacrifices for Kraulgarr’s incarnation.

Since Iratum, the vessel, had died to Dragon Rage Explosion, they must have needed additional offerings.

Which meant—

‘This situation is over.’

Only then could I finally let go of the tension.

To be honest, if the Visters of Baoless had attacked, I would’ve been in trouble too.

I was genuinely rattled when the Red Banquet made their move.

Of course, I wasn’t completely unprepared.
That’s why I had asked Isolde to contact the Eye of the Pilgrim.

But then came the unexpected twist: Kraulgarr’s incarnation.
That changed everything—and the Eye of the Pilgrim hadn’t yet arrived in Baoless.

Leaving me and Isolde stranded here.

It wasn’t easy to find a way out… but the breakthrough came from an unexpected place:

Kraulgarr’s Authority—the Source of Wrath.
By using Predation [S+] to absorb it, I acquired a Transcendent Skill—
Berserk [?].

◆ Berserk [?]

When activated, the player forcibly triggers accumulated [Madness].
Doing so allows the player to temporarily elevate the [grade] of general skills, potentially transcending normal grade limits.
Skills enhanced this way are amplified based on the intensity of [Madness] and receive additional effects according to their type.

A Transcendent Skill.

At first, I wasn’t sure what it was.
But the description made it clear:

A skill that enhances powers or unlocks an entirely new dimension—quite literally transcending limits.

The cost?

[Madness].

Originally, Kraulgarr had used rage, but when I absorbed it with Predation [S+], it seemed to convert into madness.

‘Now the question is… how do I check my Madness stat?’

I opened up [Player Info] just in case—

== [Player Info] ==

[Name] – Adrian Whitewolf
[Title] – Master of the Snowy Mountains
[Level] – 76
[HP] – 9,185
[MP] – 0
[Sanity] – 107 / 110
[Stats] – STR: 81 (+5), AGI: 110.8 (+18.8), VIT: 95.85 (+16.85), Mana: 11 (+5)
[EXP] – 9.33%
<Additional Stat Bonus +1>

There was a new stat I hadn’t seen before: [Sanity].

It likely stood for mental state.

In simple terms…

‘It measures how much of your mind you can still keep together.’

Or more simply: Willpower.