Chapter 42

Traces (1)

Thankfully, the soldiers who came running afterward helped me replenish my nutrients.

◆You can regenerate your damaged body using the skill ‘Regeneration[B+]’.

◆Regeneration[B+]

: Consumes nutrients stored in your body to restore physical damage. The types and amounts of nutrients consumed vary depending on the damaged body parts and the severity of the damage.

+You can temporarily degrade sensory nerves to block pain.

+You can temporarily modify the structure and durability of the player's somatic cells.

My Regeneration ability had now reached rank [B+]. Regeneration[B+] went beyond simply restoring my body: it could even change the structure of my somatic cells. That was how I had converted the proteins in my skin into keratin and created the combination skill Dragon’s Skin[U].

When I regenerated my arms first, the soldiers nearly fainted in shock and toppled backward.

"W-whoa!!"

"What the hell?!"

I wondered whether it really warranted that much surprise, but on second thought...

'They've never seen my regeneration before.'

I had never used Regeneration[B+] in front of the soldiers. I had repaired torn muscles with Regeneration[B+], but this was the first time I had used it to regrow lost limbs like this. After seeing me regenerate two almost completely obliterated arms right before their eyes, it would have been stranger if they weren't shocked.

Perhaps that explained the marked change in the way they looked at me. After I had slain the Gelu Drake, I had glimpsed respect and awe in their eyes. Now, all I could see was fear and terror. The soldiers huddled together, their faces frightened. Their fearful, wavering eyes seemed to demand an explanation.

Naturally, I ignored them without a second thought.

"Don't just stand there staring. Hurry up and move those monster carcasses."

After all, the monsters I had hunted lay piled up like a mountain. I had used Predation[S+] on every one of them. As ingredients, their commercial value was beyond excellent. It was perfect timing, since I needed stock to sell on our next trading trip.

I had to track down the Sovereign of Beasts now, though, so that would have to wait. I couldn't just leave them there to rot.

"What are you doing? Get moving."

"Y-yes, sir!!"

"We'll move them right away!!"

Only after I repeated myself did the soldiers spring into action in a panic. They hurriedly shouldered the carcasses and began carrying them away, as though I might eat them alive. I watched for a moment, then slowly turned my head.

Even now, the translucent message showed no sign of appearing.

'The quest still hasn't cleared...'

By this point, there was no doubt that the Sudden Quest remained incomplete, despite my having annihilated even the fleeing monsters with Dragon Rage Explosion[E].

"Hmm..."

I checked the Sudden Quest's details again.

==[We Are Legion!] ==

[Description] - Protect the county from the monster legion.

[Reward] - Increased affinity with the territory's residents

[Upon Failure] - The downfall of Whitewolf county.

It told me to protect the county from the monster legion. The fact that it hadn't cleared meant there were still more monsters in the legion. I could interpret that to mean the attack just now had been nothing more than the first wave.

In other words, it amounted to this:

'The Sovereign of Beasts is somewhere in the north.'

I had no time to waste here. I had to track down the Sovereign of Beasts. Just as I was about to turn away, however, I noticed a group of soldiers hesitating in front of me. Instead of moving the monster carcasses, they kept stealing glances at me.

"Didn't you hear me tell you to move the monster carcasses?"

The freezing weather would normally slow decomposition considerably, but not now. The heat from Dragon Rage Explosion[E] had warmed the entire county. If they didn't move the carcasses quickly, they would rot and spoil.

Of course, that didn't matter to me. As long as I could get calories out of them, who cared? But these were all goods to be sold. Valuable merchandise that would make the Predator Merchant Company the greatest trading company on the continent.

"Well..."

The soldiers hemmed and hawed, trailing off. Then they glanced tentatively to one side. Following their gazes, I saw Seraphia collapsed on the ground.

To the soldiers, Seraphia was the county's ruler and their supreme military commander. Apparently, they couldn't bear to leave her sprawled on the ground like that.

"She's not dead. Leave her alone and move the monster carcasses first."

"Pardon...? B-but we can't leave Lady Seraphia like that..."

"We should take her inside and treat her first..."

All the monster meat would spoil while they were busy treating Seraphia. She had only fainted from shock; there was nothing physically wrong with her anyway.

"Hah."

With a short sigh, I strode over and lifted Seraphia into my arms. She was as limp as a puppet with its strings cut.

"Satisfied now?"

Every soldier's eyes went wide. Even those running out from inside the castle froze in their tracks. They all stared, wide-eyed, at the sight of me holding Seraphia.

"L-Lord Adrian..."

"Lady Seraphia..."

"He picked her up?!"

Somehow, they looked even more appalled than when they had witnessed Dragon Rage Explosion[E].

"Are you going or not?"

"W-we're going!!!"

Only then did the soldiers rush off. Those who had frozen also came to their senses and joined the others.

Despite all the commotion, Seraphia showed no sign of waking. Rather than asleep... she looked dead. But her soft, steady breathing told me she was still alive.

In any case, holding Seraphia in my arms, I could feel how terribly thin she was. Had her thick fur clothes concealed it? Beneath my fingertips, her frame felt not merely slender, but wasted.

Food was scarce in the north of the continent. Having gone without adequate nutrition during her growing years, this was the inevitable result.

As I quietly looked down at her, memories of my previous life began creeping back. People screaming for their lives. Comrades in the allied army dying in agony. Members of the special task force freezing solid and being torn to pieces. And Ian returning without his left arm. All the hardship and suffering the allied army had endured as a result.

My teeth ground together involuntarily. My eyes became bloodshot. I wanted to snap Seraphia's neck right then and there. I wanted to rip out her heart with Dragon's Claw[A].

Emotion seethed inside me, ready to explode. I hadn't even consumed a monster's heart with Predation[S+], yet words like 'Hurry up and kill this bitch' echoed in my head like auditory hallucinations. The people's screams. My comrades' despair. My men's resentment. They all tangled together and squeezed my mind.

Had it not been for Ian...

◆Player's Will[EX] resists the encroaching Madness!

I would surely have snapped Seraphia's neck on the spot.

Slowly but surely, my reason returned.

"Whew...!"

As I let out a deep breath, Kai happened to be dragging his exhausted body toward me.

I strode up to him and thrust Seraphia into his arms.

"Take her."

Caught off guard, Kai took her, briefly staggering under her weight.

Seraphia was so thin she was practically skin and bones, and I could barely feel her weight, yet Kai nearly fell over. That was how bad his condition was. Even so, his unwavering determination not to drop her kept him on his feet.

I really couldn't help being impressed.

'He took that head-on and survived.'

Honestly, I wondered whether he was already a lich. Dragon Rage Explosion[E] simply wasn't a skill anyone could survive.

◆Dragon Rage Explosion[E]

: Upon using this skill, the player consumes [All Calories] stored in their body to synthesize energy and substances that trigger chain explosions over a casting time of [30 Seconds].

Once the [30 Seconds] casting time ends, all synthesized energy and substances are released.

Inflicts [Calories Consumed x 10] damage in a radiating area in front of the player over a distance of [Calories Consumed x 1 cm].

The player takes recoil damage equal to [0.01%] of the [Damage Released].

<This is a combination skill formed by combining Dragon's Claw[A], Nutrient Synthesis[B], Regeneration[B+], Toughened Skin[B], Dragon’s Skin[U], and Metabolic Overdrive[U].>

I had consumed 100,000 calories, the maximum I could store. In other words, it had been like a Breath attack pouring out a million damage over a distance of one kilometer.

In I Alone Level Up[EX], each point in the Stamina stat granted 100 health. That meant an adult man had 100 health. A million damage, then, was enough destructive power to kill ten thousand adult men in an instant.

It wasn't a dragon's power for nothing. And this was merely an imitation, produced by someone who wasn't even a dragon. A real Dragon Breath would defy imagination.

Perhaps that was why the damage I had suffered was also staggering. I had reduced the recoil damage with Dragon’s Skin[U], so the portion I actually took was minuscule. Even then, Dragon Rage Explosion[E] had left me on the verge of death.

Yet Kai hadn't just survived taking it head-on; he was walking around. How did that make any sense? But there was bright red blood around his mouth. An undead wouldn't cough up blood, so he was still human.

'What a monster.'

Though I wasn't sure you could call this human.

In any case, human as he was, Kai was in terrible shape. Which meant I could do it now. With my regeneration complete, I was in peak condition. Kai, on the other hand, was beyond battered: he was practically at death's door. I could easily kill him now, but...

'Not now.'

There was a problem with killing him just yet.

'Hunting the Sovereign of Beasts alone would be difficult.'

A Sovereign's strength was on another level. Of course, Dragon Rage Explosion[E] could deal a decisive blow even to the Sovereign of Beasts. But I would suffer a blow no less severe myself.

Dragon Rage Explosion[E] squeezed everything out of my abilities and combination skills. In other words, it wrung every last calorie out of me, forcing me to pour in all the food in my Inventory while using it. One use left me on the brink of death.

'I can't use it carelessly.'

I had to save it until the very end and unleash it as the final blow. Ideally, I would avoid using it at all.

To do that, I needed Kai's help. Just as we had when slaying the Gelu Drake, we needed to hunt the Sovereign of Beasts together. Once I killed the Sovereign of Beasts and devoured its heart with Predation[S+], I could surpass my strength from my previous life. I could kill Kai whenever I pleased then. For now, it was better to leave him alive. A hunting hound for taking down the Sovereign of Beasts.

Just as I finished putting my thoughts in order, Kai's voice came in a growl.

"What the hell do you think you're doing...!"

His blue eyes gleamed as he stared at me.

* * *

He had tried to kill him. There was no doubt about it. Adrian had clearly tried to kill Kai along with the monster legion.

An inexplicable sense of betrayal welled up in Kai's chest. He was furious with himself for having acknowledged Adrian, even briefly.

It was just like... that time. When Kai had been forced to turn his back on Adrian. When their bond, once as close as brothers, had inevitably fractured. Once again, he felt the maddening betrayal he had suffered at the hands of that despicable Adrian back then.

"Say something...!"

Kai ground his teeth, baring his anger. Adrian gazed quietly into his eyes before slowly speaking.

"I didn't know it would be that powerful either."

"You call that an excuse—!"

"I couldn't let the monster legion escape. You knew why, didn't you?"

At Adrian's next words, Kai clamped his mouth shut. Just as Adrian said, he did know. Any monsters allowed to escape today would multiply in no time. Another legion attack like today's would inevitably come sooner or later.

"Wasn't that why you pursued them alone?"

That was why he had gone after them, even on his own.

"But dealing with every last monster on your own would have been difficult."

That was true as well. Kai couldn't have wiped out all the monsters alone. Killing as many as possible had been the best he could do.

"So I helped."

It was simply that...

"Its power exceeded my expectations. That's all."

As Adrian spoke, his expression wasn't that of a liar. He really did seem not to have known it would be so powerful. In truth... it was a power no human could possibly possess. Without exaggeration, it had truly been like a dragon's.

Regardless, it was also true that they couldn't have wiped out every monster without Adrian. And it was because he had stepped forward alone that the county had suffered no damage whatsoever. Kai lowered his furious gaze. As he did, Adrian spoke again.

"Take Seraphia back to the lord's castle. Get some rest yourself."

"Now you're worried about me?"

"The fight isn't over yet."

Adrian offered no further explanation, but Kai knew what he meant. The monster legion. The unknown being commanding it was still out there. Unless they slew that being, the county would face a threat like this again at any time.

"I'm going to look for traces of the legion right now. I'll return as soon as I find them, so recover as much as you can until then."

With that, Adrian left. Kai quietly watched his retreating figure.

'Just...'

What was he?

Adrian had certainly changed, to the point where he could hardly be called human. Not only had he displayed dragonlike power, but he had regenerated two nearly obliterated arms. Neither was remotely human.

The power to make the impossible possible. Until now, Kai had forced himself to frame it in those terms. But even that could no longer explain Adrian.

Kai had no idea how to treat him from now on. He couldn't even predict how their relationship would change. In the end, however, he shook off all those thoughts.

Whatever happened, Kai had only one conviction. Seraphia. Protecting her, and her alone.

His relationship with Adrian would therefore depend on how Adrian treated Seraphia. If Adrian helped her, Kai would simply cooperate with him. If Adrian threatened her, Kai would simply kill him.

In that sense, just as Adrian had said, the fight wasn't over. The unidentified being commanding the legion remained. Now was the time to recover for the battle ahead.

Slowly lowering his eyes, Kai looked at Seraphia sleeping soundly in his arms. He could hear her soft, steady breaths. Cradling her as she breathed like a little bird, he returned to the lord's castle.