Chapter 42. Traces (1)
Fortunately….
With the help of the soldiers who arrived shortly afterward, I was able to replenish my nutrients.
◆You can use the skill ‘Regeneration [B+]’ to regenerate damaged parts of your body.
◆Regeneration [B+] : Consumes nutrients accumulated within the body to restore damaged body parts. The type and quantity of nutrients consumed vary depending on the damaged body part and the severity of the damage.
+Can temporarily degenerate the sensory nerves to block pain.
+Can temporarily modify the structure and durability of the player’s somatic cells.
My Regeneration had advanced to rank [B+] this time.
Regeneration [B+] could do more than simply regenerate my body. It could even alter the structure of my somatic cells.
That allowed me to convert the proteins in my skin into keratin and create a Combination Skill called Dragon’s Skin [U].
When I regenerated both arms first—
“W-Whoa!!”
“What the hell!?!”
The soldiers were so startled that they fell backward.
At first, I wondered whether it was really that shocking, but then I realized….
‘This must be their first time seeing Regeneration.’
I had never used Regeneration [B+] in front of the soldiers before.
I had regenerated ruptured muscles, but this was my first time using Regeneration [B+] to restore limbs that had been completely destroyed.
It would have been stranger if they had not been shocked after watching my practically obliterated arms regenerate before their eyes.
Perhaps because of that, the soldiers now looked at me quite differently.
When I subjugated the Gelu-Drake, I could glimpse respect and reverence in their eyes.
But now, I saw only fear and terror.
The frightened soldiers huddled together, their trembling eyes seemingly demanding an explanation from me.
Naturally….
I casually ignored them.
“Don’t just stand there gawking. Hurry up and move the monster corpses.”
After all, the monsters I had hunted were piled up like a mountain.
They were all creatures upon which I had used Predation [S+].
They were ingredients so commercially valuable that it was practically overflowing from them.
I happened to need more products to sell during the next merchant expedition, so this had worked out rather well.
However, since I needed to track down the Monarch of Beasts right now, I would have to postpone dealing with them.
I could not simply leave them there to rot.
“What are you doing? Hurry up and move them.”
“Y-Yes, sir!!”
“We’ll move them immediately!!”
Only after I repeated myself did the horrified soldiers begin moving.
As though afraid I might devour them instead, they hurriedly hoisted the monster corpses onto their backs and carried them away.
After taking in the sight once, I slowly turned my head.
Even then, the translucent message showed no sign of appearing.
‘The quest hasn’t been cleared….’
At this point, it was certain that the Sudden Quest had not been cleared.
That was despite the fact that I had exterminated every last fleeing monster with Dragon Rage Explosion [E].
“Hmm.”
== [We Are a Legion!] ==
[Details]—Protect the County from the monster legion.
[Reward]—Increased Affinity with the residents of the Territory.
[Upon Failure]—The fall of White Wolf County.
I checked the details of the Sudden Quest once again.
It instructed me to protect the County from the monster legion.
However, the fact that it had not been cleared meant that more of the monster legion remained.
What had just happened could be interpreted as nothing more than the first wave.
In other words….
‘The Monarch of Beasts is somewhere in the north.’
It could only mean that.
Therefore, I did not have time to stand around like this. I had to track down the Monarch of Beasts.
Just as I was about to turn away….
A group of soldiers hesitantly appeared before me.
Rather than moving the monster corpses, they kept cautiously watching me.
“Did you not hear me tell you to move the monster corpses?”
The bitterly cold weather had significantly slowed the rate of decomposition, but that was no longer the case.
The heat generated by Dragon Rage Explosion [E] had warmed the entire County.
If they did not move the corpses quickly, they would decompose and spoil.
Of course, it would not matter to me.
As long as I could obtain calories from them, anything was fine.
But those were all products intended for sale.
They were precious products that would transform the Predator Merchant Company into the greatest Merchant Guild on the continent.
“Well….”
The soldiers glanced nervously to one side.
Following their gazes, I saw Seraphia lying unconscious on the ground.
To the soldiers, Seraphia was both the lord of the County and its supreme military commander.
They clearly could not bring themselves to leave her sprawled on the ground like that.
“She isn’t dead. Leave her there and move the monster corpses first.”
“What...? B-But we can’t leave Lady Seraphia like this….”
“We should at least carry her inside and treat her...”
By the time they finished treating Seraphia, all the monster meat would have spoiled.
She had only fainted from shock, so there was nothing physically wrong with her anyway.
“Haah.”
The soldiers hesitated and trailed off.
After letting out a short sigh, I strode forward.
Then I lifted Seraphia, who lay motionless like a puppet with its strings cut, into my arms.
“Are you satisfied now?”
The soldiers’ eyes widened in unison.
Even the soldiers running out from within the castle abruptly froze. All of them stared wide-eyed at me holding Seraphia in my arms.
“L-Lord Adrian….”
“Lady Seraphia....”
“He picked her up?!”
For some reason, they appeared even more shocked than when they had witnessed Dragon Rage Explosion [E].
“Are you not leaving?”
“W-We’re going!!!”
Only then did the soldiers run off in a panic.
The soldiers who had frozen in place also regained their senses and joined the formation.
Despite all the commotion, Seraphia showed no sign of waking up.
Rather than sleeping….
She looked dead.
However, her soft and peaceful breathing assured me that she was still alive.
In any case, Seraphia was lying in my arms.
She was incredibly thin.
Had her thick fur clothing concealed it?
The figure I could feel beneath my fingertips was not merely slender but emaciated.
Food was scarce in the northern reaches of the continent.
She had not received sufficient nutrition during her growth period, so it was only natural.
As I silently looked down at Seraphia….
Memories of my previous life gradually resurfaced.
People screaming for someone to save them.
My comrades in the Coalition Forces dying in agony.
Special Task Force operatives whose frozen bodies had been torn apart.
And Ian, who had returned after losing his left arm.
The hardships and suffering the Coalition Forces had endured because of her.
……
My teeth ground together instinctively.
The blood vessels in my eyes became prominent.
I wanted to twist Seraphia’s neck immediately. I wanted to tear out her heart with Dragon’s Claw.
My emotions seethed as though they were about to explode.
Even though I had not consumed a monster’s heart with Predation [S+], words such as ‘Hurry up and kill this bitch’ echoed through my mind like auditory hallucinations.
The screams of the people.
The despair of my comrades.
The resentment of the operatives.
They became intertwined and constricted my mind.
Had it not been for Ian….
◆Player’s Will [EX] is resisting the encroaching madness!
I would undoubtedly have twisted Seraphia’s neck right then and there.
My rationality returned slowly but surely.
“Phew...!”
As I exhaled deeply, Kai happened to approach me, dragging his exhausted body along.
I strode toward Kai and thrust Seraphia into his arms.
“Take her.”
Caught off guard, Kai took Seraphia into his arms.
Her weight made him stagger for an instant.
Seraphia was so thin and bony that she barely seemed to weigh anything, yet Kai had nearly fallen over.
That was how terrible his condition was.
Even so, Kai remained standing through his firm will and conviction that he would never drop Seraphia.
I could not help but admire him.
‘He survived after taking that head-on.’
Honestly, I wondered whether Kai had somehow become a Lich.
After all, Dragon Rage Explosion [E] was not a skill anyone should have been able to survive.
◆Dragon Rage Explosion [E] : When this skill is used, the player consumes [all accumulated calories] and synthesizes energy and matter that cause consecutive explosions during a [30-second] casting period. Once the [30-second] casting period ends, all synthesized energy and matter are released. The skill inflicts radial damage equal to [calories consumed ×10] in front of the player over a distance of [calories consumed ×1 cm]. The player then receives damage equal to [0.01%] of the [damage released].
<This skill is a Combination Skill created by combining Dragon’s Claw [A], Nutrient Synthesis [B], Regeneration [B+], Hardened Skin [B], Dragon’s Skin [U], and Metabolic Overdrive [U].>
The number of calories I had consumed was the maximum amount I could accumulate: one hundred thousand calories.
In other words, it had been equivalent to a Breath that unleashed one million points of damage over a distance of one kilometer.
In Solo Level Up [EX], each point of the Vitality stat granted one hundred health points.
That meant the average adult man possessed one hundred health points.
In other words, one million points of damage represented enough destructive power to kill ten thousand adult men in a single strike.
It was not called a dragon’s authority for nothing.
And this was merely an imitation of that authority, manifested while I was not even a dragon.
A real Dragon Breath would surpass imagination.
Perhaps because of that, the damage I suffered was also enormous.
I reduced the reflected damage with Dragon’s Skin [U], greatly reducing the damage returned to me.
Even so, Dragon Rage Explosion [E] had left me on the verge of death.
Yet not only had Kai survived taking it head-on, but he was even walking around.
How could that possibly make sense?
However, crimson blood stained the corners of Kai’s mouth.
An undead creature would not cough up blood, so that proved he was still human.
‘What a monster.’
Though I was not sure whether someone like him could truly be called human.
In any case, the human Kai was in a miserable condition.
That meant I could do it now.
Having completed my Regeneration, I was in perfect condition.
Kai, on the other hand, was battered beyond recognition and only a step away from death.
I could easily kill Kai right now, but….
‘Not yet.’
There was a problem preventing me from killing him now.
‘Hunting the Monarch of Beasts alone will be difficult.’
A Monarch’s strength was on another level.
Of course, Dragon Rage Explosion [E] would undoubtedly inflict serious damage even on the Monarch of Beasts.
However, I would also suffer tremendous damage in return.
Dragon Rage Explosion [E] squeezed every last drop from all my abilities and Combination Skills.
In other words, I had to expend every calorie I possessed while pouring all the food in my inventory into activating the skill.
After using Dragon Rage Explosion [E] once, I would be left on the verge of death.
‘I can’t use it carelessly.’
I needed to conserve it until the very end and use it as the finishing blow.
If possible, I needed to avoid using it altogether.
To accomplish that, I required Kai’s help.
Just as we had when subjugating the Gelu-Drake, Kai and I needed to hunt the Monarch of Beasts together.
And once I hunted the Monarch of Beasts and consumed the Monarch’s heart with Predation [S+], I would surpass the strength I had possessed in my previous life.
Once that happened, I could kill Kai whenever I wanted.
Therefore, it was better not to kill him just yet.
A hunting dog for the hunt against the Monarch of Beasts.
Just as I finished organizing my thoughts—
“What in the world are you doing...?!”
Kai’s growling voice rang out.
Kai’s blue eyes gleamed as they fixed upon me.
* * *
Adrian had tried to kill him.
There was no doubt about it.
Adrian had clearly attempted to kill Kai alongside the monster legion. An inexplicable sense of betrayal surged from deep within Kai’s chest.
He became furious with himself for having acknowledged Adrian, even if only briefly.
It was just like….
That time.
The time when Kai had been forced to turn his back on Adrian.
The time when the relationship between the two men, who had once been like brothers, had inevitably fallen apart.
Kai once again felt the maddening sense of betrayal he had experienced toward the despicable Adrian back then.
“Say something...!”
Kai ground his teeth and exposed his anger.
Adrian stared calmly into Kai’s eyes before slowly opening his mouth.
“I didn’t know it would be that powerful either.”
“You call that an excuse—?!”
“We couldn’t allow the fleeing monster legion to escape. You knew the reason for that as well, didn’t you?”
Kai clamped his mouth shut at Adrian’s ensuing words.
He could not deny it because, just as Adrian had said, he understood the reason.
The monsters allowed to escape today would multiply explosively, and it was obvious that another attack by a legion like this one would eventually occur.
“Isn’t that why you pursued them alone?”
That was why Kai had pursued them, even by himself.
“But you couldn’t eliminate every monster alone.”
That was also true.
Kai could not have eliminated every monster by himself. The best he could have done was kill as many as possible.
“So I helped.”
It was simply that….
“The power exceeded my expectations.”
Adrian’s face and expression did not belong to someone who was lying. It truly seemed that Adrian had not expected the attack to be so powerful.
In truth, that was….
A power no human could possibly possess.
It was no exaggeration to say that he had truly resembled a dragon.
In any case, it was also true that they could not have annihilated all the monsters without Adrian.
And because Adrian had stepped forward alone, the County had suffered no casualties or damage.
The hostility in Kai’s growling eyes subsided as he lowered his gaze.
Adrian’s voice reached him once again.
“Take Seraphia back to the lord’s castle. You should tend to your own condition as well.”
“Now you’re pretending to be concerned about me?”
“The fight isn’t over yet.”
Adrian offered no further explanation, but Kai understood what he meant.
The monster legion.
The unidentified entity commanding the legion still remained.
Until that entity was subjugated, the County could be threatened by another attack like this at any moment.
“I’ll leave immediately to search for the legion’s tracks. I’ll return as soon as I find them, so recover as much as possible until then.”
With those final words, Adrian left.
Kai silently watched Adrian’s retreating figure as he suddenly departed.
‘Just what....’
What was Adrian?
He had unquestionably changed.
He had changed so drastically that he could hardly be called human anymore.
It was not only the dragon-like power he had displayed earlier.
The sight of him regenerating both arms after they had practically ceased to exist could never be described as human either.
A power that transformed the impossible into the possible.
Until now, Kai had deliberately tried to explain it using those words. But even that could no longer explain Adrian.
Kai could not determine how he should treat Adrian from now on. Nor could he predict how their relationship would change.
In the end, however, Kai cast all those thoughts aside.
Regardless of everything else, Kai possessed only one conviction.
Seraphia.
Protecting her and her alone.
Therefore, Kai’s relationship with Adrian would depend entirely on how Adrian treated Seraphia.
If Adrian proved helpful to Seraphia, Kai would cooperate with him.
If Adrian became a threat to Seraphia, Kai would kill him.
In that sense, just as Adrian had said, the fight was not over yet. The unidentified entity commanding the legion still remained.
For the sake of the coming battle, now was the time to recover.
Kai slowly lowered his gaze and saw Seraphia sleeping peacefully in his arms.
Her soft breathing reached his ears.
Holding her delicate breaths, which resembled those of a baby bird, close to his chest, Kai returned to the lord’s castle.
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