Chapter 43
11 min read ·
Traces (2)
The Sovereign of Beasts, one of the six Sovereigns who served the Emperor.
The allied army referred to the Sovereign of Beasts as [Irreducible Complexity].
Irreducible Complexity.
Simply put, it meant a life-form that could not be explained by biological evolution. To put it even more simply, it was not an organism shaped by nature, but the creation of an intelligent being with a clear intent.
In other words, a life-form born of intelligent design.
There is a common misconception about evolution: that its purpose is to make things better.
But it isn't.
Not at all.
Evolution is merely a phenomenon in which diverse individuals arise at random, and only those adapted to their environment survive to pass on their genes.
In short, evolution has neither purpose nor will. An individual does not assess what would help it survive and then choose to evolve. Genes that happen to be better adapted to their environment simply survive.
In other words, evolution is the product of natural selection: choices made by nature in the form of the environment.
But what if that were possible?
What if purpose and will could be introduced into evolution?
What if it were possible to assess which conditions favored survival?
What if an intelligent being could consider all those factors and choose its genetic abilities?
The Sovereign of Beasts, a life-form born of intelligent design.
It was a being created not by nature, but through intelligent design. A life-form designed with a firm evolutionary purpose and a distinct will, selecting and concentrating the traits most favorable to survival.
As a result, it was no exaggeration to say that the Sovereign of Beasts possessed the genetic material of nearly every life-form on this continent.
In that sense, it could be considered the same as the Ultimate Lifeform Ian had described.
But there was one crucial difference.
The Ultimate Lifeform Ian had described would possess every adaptation found in nature: a being born instantaneously, capable of reproducing instantaneously, with an eternal lifespan, no natural predators, and no biological weaknesses whatsoever.
That did not require all the genetic material in the world. Unnecessary, useless, or redundant genetic material would only get in the way.
But the Sovereign of Beasts was different. It possessed genetic material from nearly every life-form on the continent.
More importantly, possessing that genetic material was all it did. It had merely mixed that material together.
A grotesque sight, as though hundreds of monsters had been mixed together.
A chaotic mass, as though thousands of animals and insects had been lumped together.
An organism created by crossbreeding tens of thousands of living creatures.
A chimera.
The Sovereign of Beasts was a chimera that combined every life-form in the world.
Which was also why it was the Sovereign I had wanted to consume with Predation[S+] more than any other.
It possessed genetic material from nearly every life-form on the continent. That meant the genetic material I could gain by consuming the Sovereign of Beasts with Predation[S+] was practically limitless.
If I could obtain it, I could create an endless array of combination skills, just as I had extracted dragon genetic material from Dragon's Claw[A] to create Dragon Rage Explosion[E].
But in my previous life, I had never consumed the Sovereign of Beasts with Predation[S+].
I hadn't been able to.
And it wasn't just the Sovereign of Beasts. The other Sovereigns, especially—
◆Player's Will[EX] resists the engulfing darkness!
I hadn't been able to consume them with Predation[S+].
But things were different now. With Ian's ability, Player's Will[EX], I could consume the Sovereign of Beasts with Predation[S+].
So I had to find it. If the Sovereign of Beasts was in the north, it was bound to have left traces.
◆Activating combination skill, 'Metabolic Overdrive[U]'!
I raced up the snowy mountain.
* * *
Finding traces wasn't easy.
The north of the continent was vast. No matter what, I couldn't search every part of it.
That made finding any traces a distant prospect, but there was one place I suspected: the Gelu Drake's habitat.
The summit of the snowy mountains.
The Gelu Drake, known as the master of the snowy mountains, rarely descended from the summit. It dug through the snow with its hard claws, feeding primarily on the moss and grass growing beneath it.
That was why I had stayed well away from the summit while hunting monsters in the snowy mountains. A Gelu Drake posed no particular threat unless someone intruded on its territory.
I had planned to wait until I met Ian before hunting the master of the snowy mountains.
But I had encountered the Gelu Drake in the end, because it had come down from the summit.
At first, I had assumed it had descended because food was scarce. That was all I had thought of it.
But what if that wasn't the reason?
What if the Gelu Drake hadn't descended of its own accord?
What if something had driven it out?
With that suspicion in mind, I scoured the summit.
One mountain after another, as the saying went.
Even the search took an incredibly long time. It felt as though a full day had passed.
Fortunately, my efforts weren't wasted.
On one of the peaks, I found a trace.
An overwhelming sight, as though a great scar had been carved into the landscape.
"This is..."
Amid that scene, I found the savagely torn carcass of a Gelu Drake.
Its mangled remains were frozen solid. It had been dead for a long time. Its heart, too, had long since lost its vitality and was as hard as ice.
Unfortunately, obtaining its genetic material with Predation[S+] looked unlikely.
I examined the Gelu Drake's carcass more closely.
The enormous body of what had been called the master of the snowy mountains lay cold and lifeless on the icy ground. Frozen blood covered its entire body, turned stark white. Its tough hide, which had easily withstood steel swords, had been torn apart in numerous places.
If a human had done this, it would have taken an aura-wielding knight at the very least.
But it wasn't a blade, such as a sword, that had torn the Gelu Drake's hide. These were deep gashes left by sharp claws and teeth.
This wasn't a human's work.
Nor was it the work of a monster from the snowy mountains. None of the monsters here could do this to a Gelu Drake.
And not just here. Even across the entire continent, few monsters could slaughter a Gelu Drake so mercilessly.
I examined the carcass more closely still.
The claws that symbolized the master of the snowy mountains had been rendered utterly useless, torn out entirely.
There was no need to go this far when hunting for food.
"It wasn't killed out of hunger."
In other words, this was punishment for a creature that refused to submit to the legion.
Even in my previous life, dragons had never been subjugated by the legion. And a Gelu Drake bore the genetic imprint of a dragon. With a dragon's arrogance in its blood, a Gelu Drake would never submit to another creature.
In the end, the attempt to subjugate it had been abandoned, and it had been brutally killed instead.
"So the Gelu Drake I encountered was one that escaped from here and survived."
Judging by this roughly twenty-meter carcass, the Gelu Drake I had encountered seemed to have been a young one.
I continued examining the body. The head, too, was severely damaged. Most of its teeth were broken, and its jaws had been ripped wide apart. Its yellow eyes, never closed in death, stared emptily, devoid of life.
This was the site where the pride of a former master of the snowy mountains had been mercilessly trampled.
At last, I could tell whose work this was.
It was the Sovereign of Beasts' doing, and yet it wasn't.
"The Legion Commander of Beasts..."
The legion commander who served the Sovereign of Beasts.
During my time as Chief of Covert Operations for the special warfare unit within the special task force, I had gathered intelligence on all the Sovereigns and their legion commanders.
All that information was in my head. Reviewing those memories from my previous life only confirmed it.
"It's definitely the Legion Commander of Beasts."
This was the Legion Commander of Beasts' work.
"Was the Legion Commander of Beasts active in the north?"
I hadn't been in the north at this point in time, so I didn't know the details. And since Seraphia hadn't yet awakened as the Sovereign of Bitter Cold, it did seem possible.
In any case...
"The Legion Commander of Beasts, huh..."
The Emperor bestowed the status of Sovereign upon six beings he had deemed worthy.
Likewise, the Sovereigns appointed the most powerful of their followers as legion commanders.
A prime example was Kai, the Legion Commander of Bitter Cold. He was a knight whom Seraphia, the Sovereign of Bitter Cold, had appointed to that position.
Legion commanders served their Sovereigns, not the Emperor. Of course, since the Sovereigns served the Emperor, the result was no different.
Legion commanders who served the Emperor directly were therefore distinguished by the designation "legion commanders of the imperial army."
But whether they served the imperial army or a Sovereign, they had all stood at the forefront of the war and mercilessly crushed the allied army.
Their strength had been a nightmare for the allied army.
Sovereigns personally selected their legion commanders, then shared a portion of their powers and strength with those they chose.
That was why I hadn't been able to consume the Legion Commander of Beasts with Predation[S+] in my previous life. It, too, possessed the Sovereign of Beasts' powers and strength.
Which meant...
"I can obtain the Sovereign of Beasts' genetic material."
I could use Predation[S+] on the Legion Commander of Beasts to obtain the Sovereign of Beasts' genetic material as well.
Seen that way, this was actually fortunate.
"The Sovereign of Beasts was going to be a bit much for me."
I'd talked about having a shot and all that, but honestly, I'd been scared shitless.
My chances of victory hadn't been very high. Objectively speaking, I would most likely have been the one getting hunted, even with Dragon Rage Explosion[E].
But if it was the Legion Commander of Beasts...
"I really do have a shot."
This was genuinely doable.
That didn't mean I could afford to let my guard down. They couldn't compare to Sovereigns, but legion commanders were still in a league of their own.
Kai, the former Legion Commander of Bitter Cold, was proof enough of that.
"Let's see..."
I immediately checked 「Player Information」.
==「Player Information」==
[Name] = Adrian Whitewolf
[Title] = Master of the Snowy Mountains
[Level] = Level 29
[HP] = 2,515
[MP] = 0
[Stats] = Strength:33(+5) Agility:32.2(+9.2) Stamina:24.15(+8.15) Mana:6(+5)
[Experience] = 77.2%
<Additional Stat Points+1>
The experience I'd earned hunting the monster legion had raised my level by one. That put me at level 29, but something was odd.
"My Agility and Stamina stats have gone up again?"
And by awkward amounts like 9.2 and 8.15, at that. Excluding the effects of the <Master of the Snowy Mountains> title, that meant additional increases of 4.2 and 3.15.
I'd gained +4 Strength through training before the battle against the legion. But I didn't remember gaining any Stamina or Agility.
"Why did they...? Oh, this is why."
I soon found the reason.
◆Promote Metabolism[C+]
: Upon acquiring this skill, the player's endocrine system is stimulated, greatly increasing metabolism. The player's Strength decreases by [-0%], while the player's Agility and Stamina increase by [+15%].
+The Strength stat no longer decreases.
+Changes from an [On/Off] skill to a [Passive] skill.
<This is a passive skill. Its effects apply permanently upon acquisition.>
Promote Metabolism had evolved to rank [B] this time. Upon reaching its fully evolved form, it had changed from an [On/Off] skill to a [Passive] skill.
In other words, I could benefit from Promote Metabolism[C+] at all times, even under normal conditions.
"But it's lost the effect that temporarily amplifies my abilities."
That didn't matter, since I had Metabolic Overdrive[U]. The increases to Agility and Stamina were smaller as well, but being passive made it far more advantageous.
"Does that mean my Agility goes up by 1.15 at a time now?"
Since it had occurred to me, I invested my one Additional Stat Point in Agility. Sure enough, my Agility stat changed from 32.2 to 33.35.
And this applied to Stamina as well. That was effectively a +15% increase in the efficiency of my stamina training.
"That's nice."
Nice didn't begin to cover it. It was fucking broken.
The higher my stats became, the more exponentially effective it would be.
For now, though, the benefits were still small.
"Hmm..."
I assessed and weighed my combat strength as objectively as possible.
The Legion Commander of Beasts.
If it really was the creature I had in mind...
"I don't think I can do this alone."
It looked like I would have to unleash my hunting hound.
* * *
RUMBLE!
The thick wooden gates of Whitewolf Castle opened with a thunderous roar.
The castle had been buried in snow and ice, but Dragon Rage Explosion[E] had melted most of it away. Had it snowed again while I was searching the mountains? Patches of snow covered the walls and gates.
When the gates finally opened all the way, Kai was the first to greet me.
Long golden hair that seemed to hold the sunlight. Silver armor, undaunted by the cold. Eyes like inlaid blue opals. A sharply defined jawline.
Kai looked like a noble wolf of the snowy mountains.
'Why does he look so fine?'
... Far too fine.
Of course, I was the one who had told him to recover. And about a day had passed while I searched the snowy mountains.
I'd expected him to have pulled himself together somewhat, but this was well beyond that. There was no trace of the battered wreck who had been on the verge of collapsing.
Those weren't injuries anyone could recover from in a single day. Yet as Kai approached me, I couldn't see a single wound.
'How...?'
I watched him approach closely. Soon, I recognized a certain power emanating from him.
It was a power much like the Saintess's miracles...
'Regeneration...?'
And it was also rather similar to my Regeneration[B+].