Chapter 15

A Mad Wastrel (2)

Countless wild animals inhabited the continent, adapted to its countless environments. And there were just as many monsters.

Monsters: beasts more vicious and more driven by instinct than wild animals.

In truth, monsters had not originally existed on the continent. They had appeared suddenly at some point, but no one knew exactly when their presence had first come to light.

Every scholar had a different view, a different opinion. Even those were only hypotheses without any real supporting evidence. The timing could only be described as “an unimaginably long time ago.”

But how had monsters come into being? On that question alone, all scholars agreed.

Mutations of wild animals.

A mutated pig was the monster known as an orc. A mutated rat was the monster known as a kobold. A mutated centipede was the monster known as a Demugade.

Animals, including insects, had thus mutated and diverged into new species. Repeated evolution had turned them into the creatures known today as monsters.

Nor was it limited to animals. Even plants had mutated. That was how a new taxonomic kingdom, the “monster kingdom,” had come into being, distinct from the animal and plant kingdoms.

As for the mutagenic factor that turned plants and animals into monsters, scholars had named it “Madness.”

Thus, every monster possessed Madness.

That was why monsters could not be eaten, even if they could be made into weapons and armor. Madness resided within their bodies.

Countless attempts had been made to remove that Madness. All had failed. Mages had concluded that it could not be removed because it was embedded at the cellular level.

Consequently, the first thing that happened when someone ate monster meat was that they went insane. They lost their reason and, driven solely by instinct, slaughtered indiscriminately, over and over.

If they were killed in the process, that was the fortunate outcome.

But if they weren't?

They continued slaughtering, and Madness continued to accumulate. Humans, too, were animals. The steadily accumulating Madness caused mutations, leading to the horrific outcome of even a human turning into a monster.

In other words...

CRUNCH.

Adrian, who was currently chewing on the Dermexus's heart, was out of his mind.

“Have you lost your mind?!” Kai shouted in alarm.

He had to stop him immediately. Yet he did not rush forward. He couldn't approach him. He mustn't.

Adrian had already chewed and swallowed part of the Dermexus's heart. And the heart was the core of its Madness.

The heart was the source of life. Monsters were living creatures too, and all their vitality was concentrated in their hearts. The Madness within them was concentrated there as well. Eating the heart therefore consumed a person with Madness far faster than eating any other part.

Sure enough, the air about Adrian changed completely. His eyes grew redder, as though drenched in blood. Both were unfocused.

... There was no trace of reason in them.

Kai tightened his grip on his sword.

He had to kill him. He had to kill Adrian right here, before Madness consumed him completely.

But... could he actually win?

The thought came unbidden. Kai could scarcely believe he was even thinking it. Yet he could not be certain of his chances against Adrian.

While Kai hesitated, something savage began to rise behind Adrian's crimson eyes.

It was the thing he had seen at the Frost Trial Grounds.

Something lodged deep within Adrian, held down until now by an unknown power, unable to rise—a ferocious beast twisted by murderous intent beneath dark clouds of hatred.

With Madness as the catalyst, that unknown beast was undergoing a terrible liberation. At last, its suppressed form was slowly rising.

Faced with it, Kai involuntarily faltered and stepped back.

That... was not human. Nor was it a monster.

It was an ultimate being that reigned over all life.

The primal terror of a living creature confronted with such a being began to bind Kai's body and mind in an instant.

Fear, terror, despair. Such emotions were meaningless. No matter how desperately he struggled, he could not survive that ultimate being. Even the instinct to survive lost all meaning.

Kai ground his teeth. When even that proved insufficient, he bit the inside of his cheek. Dizzying pain and the metallic scent of blood jolted his body and mind awake.

... He had to fight.

Just as Kai tightened his grip on his sword—

“Whew...!”

Adrian let out a long breath.

The savage thing within him crashed to the ground. Restrained by an unknown power, it had ultimately failed to rise.

The radiance in Adrian's eyes faded, leaving them as calm as usual. Those eyes from which reason had been gouged out had regained their focus.

'How...?'

The questions persisted, but Kai could not bring himself to seek answers.

Slowly raising his gaze, he saw that roughly half the heart in Adrian's hand had disappeared. Blood was smeared all around Adrian's mouth.

The sight was so grotesque that Kai could not see him as a fellow human. He did not even want to.

Kai started to say something, then pressed his lips shut. ... He didn't particularly want to talk to him.

But today had strengthened his resolve even further. Adrian had to die.

True, Adrian was no longer the count's wastrel son. He had certainly changed. But Kai could not yet conclude that the change was for the better. To be honest, it was likely for the worse.

That unknown something within Adrian had clearly been restrained. Even so, it was deadly enough to awaken a primal fear for his life in Kai.

There was no imagining what Adrian might become if he were allowed to live. No predicting what threat he might pose to the county. At any moment, that threat could turn toward Seraphia.

The bruises on Seraphia's neck were proof enough. They had not fully healed even after more than ten days, confirming Kai's suspicions.

Adrian intended to kill Seraphia. There was no doubt about it.

This time, Kai had somehow weathered the crisis by working with him. But this once, and only this once. Never again would he cooperate with Adrian.

Gathering his thoughts, Kai calmly steadied his breathing.

Three months until the royal decree arrived. It was not a short time, but neither was it long. As of today, twelve days had already passed.

Kai turned his back and left.

* * *

◆Kai harbors active aggression toward you, determined to kill and destroy you!

◆Given any opportunity, Kai will surely kill you and wipe you out!

Translucent messages abruptly appeared before my eyes.

“What's this all of a sudden?”

When I looked up, Kai was leaving. His long blond hair streamed behind him, mingling with the drifting snow to evoke a proud wolf of the snowfields.

Apparently, watching me eat the Dermexus's heart had sickened him...

MUNCH, MUNCH.

So what was I supposed to do about it?

Of course I knew eating a monster's heart wasn't normal. When my comrades in the allied army first saw my ability, they had been so horrified they practically fainted.

It was better not to use Predation in front of people. But to absorb an ability, I had to eat a living heart directly. Once the life in it had faded completely, I could no longer absorb its ability. Waiting wasn't an option.

Kai's affinity was already rock bottom anyway. I had no particular intention of raising it. Raise his affinity? I felt the same way about him.

I, too, harbored active aggression toward him, determined to kill and destroy him. I simply couldn't do it.

'What a monster.'

I'd never imagined he could display that much combat power with not only his stamina drained, but his aura utterly depleted as well.

All I'd done was land the so-called last hit. Kai could be said to have done the actual hunting.

He hadn't been called the Legion Commander of Bitter Cold for nothing. It wasn't as though even I, the allied army's Predator, had been unable to handle him.

But this time would be different from my previous life.

◆You have defeated a Dermexus!

◆You have gained 200 combat experience!

◆You have leveled up!

◆You have leveled up!

Perhaps Kai's affinity messages had pushed them back in the queue, because only now did the notifications for my two-level gain appear.

Then I chewed and swallowed the last piece of the Dermexus's heart.

◆You have devoured the genetic material of the entity ‘Dermexus.’

◆You have acquired the skill ‘Toughened Skin[D]’!

As the message announcing my new skill appeared, my body began reacting immediately. My skin grew smooth, like polished metal. Yet it retained a subtle elasticity and suppleness, looking no different from human skin on the outside.

But it was as tough as rubber and as hard as metal. A thin, gleaming film also coated its surface, protecting my body from the cold.

Once the changes were complete, translucent text appeared before me.

◆Toughened Skin[D]

: Upon acquiring this skill, the player's skin cell membranes are strengthened.

The strengthened skin prevents moisture loss and aids blood circulation, improving the player's body temperature regulation by [+50%] and granting [+12%] resistance to [All External Injury Damage] inflicted on the player.

<This is a passive skill that applies permanently upon acquisition.>

<Absorbing additional genetic material will strengthen this ability.>

The biting cold had certainly eased. My skin, thickened like leather, had grown as hard as calluses.

The ability was already quite useful. But as it evolved, it would become downright broken.

Eventually, [Body Temperature Regulation] would grant complete immunity not only to bitter cold but to scorching heat. [External Injury Damage Resistance] would easily stop even steel weapons.

My skin would offer better protection than armor.

So, since things had turned out this way—

“Shall I start hunting?”

It seemed I could begin hunting in earnest.

To be fair, growing stronger through physical training wasn't bad. Not just “not bad”—I could confidently call it broken. With Regeneration[C+], I could push past my body's limits, then past the limits beyond them.

Even so, it would be difficult. Watching Kai fight just now had convinced me.

“I don't think I can kill him yet.”

Physical training alone had its limits. That monster trained his aura every waking moment. Kai was growing stronger just as I was.

I needed far more explosive growth.

And it wasn't just because of Kai. There were the Sovereign of Bitter Cold and the other Sovereigns, and especially—

◆Player's Will[EX] resists the erased traces!

Ultimately, physical training alone would not be enough to face the Emperor. I had to quickly regain the abilities of my previous life and the combat power I'd possessed as Predator.

Beyond that, I had to surpass my former combat power. If possible, I needed to become strong enough to rival Ian, the Hero.

In my previous life, that would have been utterly impossible, no matter what I did. But things were different now.

Hunting monsters would earn me experience and their abilities at the same time. I could far surpass the Predator of my previous life.

My mind was made up.

“Let's go hunt monsters.”

Ian's ability, I Alone Level Up[EX]. My ability, Predation[S+].

Monster hunting would let me harness the synergy between those two abilities, providing explosive growth that physical training couldn't even begin to match. What's more, now that I had Player's Will[EX], I could use Predation[S+] without limit, unlike in my previous life.

“Let's see...”

I calmly searched my memories, going over the abilities I'd devoured during my time as the allied army's Predator. One by one, I recalled the abilities I needed most right now.

“First, ice trolls take top priority.”

I needed to evolve Regeneration[C+].

“I remember there being a Nutrient Synthesis ability in the north, too.”

Nutrient Synthesis. An ability that could synthesize every nutrient from calories. With it, I could use Regeneration[C+] without worrying about specific nutrients.

And if I combined that with the Toughened Skin[D] I'd just acquired?

My entire skin would become endlessly regenerating steel armor.

“But I still lack attack power.”

I could wield a sword, but I couldn't use aura. I'd faced the same problem in my previous life. And I'd overcome it.

“There was a Heightened Keratin ability in the north too, wasn't there?”

Heightened Keratin. Acquiring it strengthened the keratin in the body, refining its density and strength to an extreme degree. In turn, it vastly increased the hardness and strength of fingernails, toenails, and hair.

My fingernails would become harder than steel, their cutting power surpassing an aura sword's. Countless imperial soldiers had fallen to their knees before me thanks to this ability.

I could confidently call it the core ability that had made me Predator.

And that wasn't all.

The ability to generate bioelectricity and attack with it. The ability to produce poison at will. The ability to trigger powerful explosions. The ability to detect ultrasound and infrasound. The ability to see various wavelengths of light, such as ultraviolet, infrared, and X-rays, and so on.

As boundless as the life on this continent was, so too were the rare abilities it had evolved.

And who knew? There really might be a chance.

“I wonder if there's Extrasensory Perception, too.”

The ability commonly called ESP. Extrasensory Perception.

It activated the sensory nerves to an extreme degree, allowing the user to pinpoint an opponent's location through terrain and obstacles. An outrageously broken ability.

Throughout my previous life, I'd only heard that monsters with such an ability existed. I'd never actually seen one. The Emperor had wiped every last one of them out.

But now that I had returned to the past, now that Player's Will[EX] let me use Predation[S+] without limit, did I really have time to sit on my ass and deliberate?

“Let's get going.”

I set off toward the snowy mountains, rather than the county.