The Monarch Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 297: The Weight of a Rising Name
The day the entire territory of France was severed from the rest of the world.
One week had passed since the so-called Great Collapse of France.
The massive summoning formation known as World Severance had been broken, but its aftereffects ran deep.
“Umuuuuuumu!”
A demonic beast resembling an elephant, the Dark Mammoth, stomped its massive foot.
The ground heaved violently.
The players dispatched to exterminate the monsters staggered from the shockwave.
“Goddamn it. There’s no end to them.”
“The key to dealing with a Dark Mammoth is stopping its charge.”
“Easy for you to say. Try blocking that thing and you’ll end up flattened like a dried squid.”
Monsters from the otherworld were appearing all across France.
Fell Beasts, Dark Mammoths, winged demonic creatures from another realm—they kept pouring out without pause.
The boundaries between dimensions had grown hazy.
The lingering effects of World Severance had taken root throughout the entire country.
Germany, Spain, Italy—nations that shared direct borders with France—were actively sending their own players in response.
The summoned monsters had no concept of national borders.
Thanks to the EU agreements that had removed all border restrictions, the creatures simply wandered into neighboring countries, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.
The political situation across Europe had fallen into chaos.
And the one who had calmed the storm unleashed by Rene Davis was a player from a far-eastern nation—Korea.
The hero who shattered World Severance and lifted the darkness that had fallen over Paris!
Jinho’s actions had not stopped at defeating Rene Davis.
“The monsters that have already been summoned won’t return. In fact, their numbers will only continue to grow.”
As if he had predicted the coming chaos, he went around eradicating the monsters appearing across France.
The overwhelming martial prowess he displayed in the process left the world stunned.
His battle against Rene Davis had taken place inside a separate dimension, so almost no one had witnessed it.
All that was known was the result: Rene Davis had been defeated.
But once Jinho began traveling across France and unleashing his true power, the world finally learned the full extent of his strength.
“Mr. Yu? He’s stronger than me. Among all players, he might be the strongest in the world right now.”
“Hmph. I owe him a great debt. He is powerful, yet he understands honor.”
Ellen Taylor, America’s top ranker.
Sergey Smirnov, Russia’s top ranker.
Two of the three strongest players on the planet had publicly acknowledged him.
The recognition of such high rankers.
The overwhelming force he displayed while sweeping away the monsters.
What had once been quiet rumors when he was known only as the ‘Hero of the Spice Islands’ now exploded into the open after he defeated Rene Davis. His fame soared without limit.
“The player even Sergey acknowledged?”
“You’re saying he’s stronger than Ellen Taylor?”
“If I can beat Yu Jinho, my own strength will be recognized too.”
Top rankers from various countries hungry for fame began boarding flights to Europe.
They had the perfect justification—saving France from danger.
Jinho’s name value, which had skyrocketed after the Collapse, caused even the stock price of Leyden Co.—the company he had poured all his spare funds into—to surge alongside his reputation.
“Just what on earth has Mr. Yu done this time…”
Amelia Tesla, CEO of Leyden Co., was sweating profusely as investment offers poured in from every direction.
The landscape of player society was changing at a dizzying pace.
And at the center of the storm, Jinho was sucking in every headline like a black hole.
* * *
“I am Amir, a ranker from India. I have come to challenge you.”
“I am Antonio, a ranker from Brazil. Prepare to kneel before my powe—guek!”
The brown-skinned man rolled across the ground.
I was already busy devouring the essences of monsters. Why did these nobodies keep coming at me?
“Master is really popular these days. I’m jealous.”
“Once I become stronger, will I receive challenges like Master? I must train even harder.”
“Both of you get extra training after today’s battle.”
Lee Jiyoung and Ping Lei’s faces twisted in dismay.
They had completely misread the room.
— But the number of challengers has increased dramatically.
“That’s all because certain people couldn’t keep their mouths shut.”
Ellen and Sergey’s public endorsement.
They had announced it right after I defeated Rene Davis, so the impact was even greater.
Their intentions had been good.
It was a way to spread my name while delivering shocking news that would help erase the disaster that had struck France.
The only problem was the swarm of moths now rushing in, thinking they could defeat me and claim the title of the world’s strongest.
“Speaking of which, this guy is Antonio?”
— Do you know him?
“He’s the guy who took the Goddess’s holy relic in my previous life.”
Antonio.
He had become a high ranker by using Nyx’s holy relic, the Shadow Orb, as a medium.
A balanced offense-and-defense type who could manipulate shadows to toy with his opponents, or even control the shadows themselves to dominate large groups. He possessed truly powerful combat abilities.
He had dominated most of South America before following his patron god Loki and leaving Earth.
“You have no idea how much harm this bastard caused.”
— How despicable. To think he used a goddess’s holy relic to satisfy his own greed.
“Don’t be too hard on him. I did the same thing.”
— You had a greater cause.
“You’re overestimating me again.”
I meant it.
My driving principle had always been revenge.
Saving the world from the schemes of the Old Gods was only a secondary goal.
— Hehe. How dishonest of you.
What was she even talking about?
I grumbled quietly and stripped Antonio of every item he carried before tossing them to the monsters.
Considering what he had done in my previous life, he was rotten to the core.
There wasn’t enough time to rehabilitate him like I had with Ping Lei or Enrique.
— Is that really alright?
“It’s not like I killed him.”
— Hmm. It doesn’t look like he’ll escape this crisis easily.
“He’ll either die or get beaten half to death. One or the other.”
So who told him to charge in without thinking?
I knocked the Indian ranker unconscious and had him sent to a safe location.
If my memory served me right, he was hot-blooded but had a decent personality.
“Anyway, I’ve collected all the essences now.”
The real reason I had been running around France so busily.
I had devoured every single essence dropped by the monsters that had crawled out of the otherworld.
Formation (★★★)
*Essence of Harab Serapel’s Sapling
Records the user’s skills as formations and releases them at the desired moment.
High-Speed Movement (★★)
*Essence of Kraafel (Flying Monster)
Increases movement speed by 40% for 60 seconds upon activation.
Furious Charge (★★★)
*Essence of Purgatory Assault Trooper
Ignores all stun effects and charges in a straight line toward the target, dealing damage equal to 200% of Strength.
Dragon Skin (★★★★)
*Lesser Drake
Raises dragon scales to increase defense.
The essences I had obtained after defeating the remnants of Klyphoth.
In particular, I had been especially eager to devour the Lesser Drake’s essence. I had used one previously to create a Bone Drake in order to increase my combat strength, so I hunted these down with burning eyes.
Even though it had fallen into ruin, the system still treated it as a dragon species. The dragon factor that made up my body had grown even stronger.
I used the Lesser Drake’s essence as the foundation to subordinate Metal Reflection Armor as a lower concept.
Metal Reflection Armor was a skill created by combining the essences of the Iron Slug, Thorn Boar, Ironclad Armadillo, and Cyborg Zombie.
Normally, even if the Lesser Drake’s essence was of a higher grade, subordinating a skill formed from multiple essences as a lower concept should have been impossible.
The fusion itself would have been nearly unachievable, and the backlash would have been catastrophic.
But—
Lesser Drake’s Essence subordinates Metal Reflection Armor as a lower concept.
Dragon Skin → True Dragon Armor
By emphasizing the trait of the ancient dragon race, I succeeded in integrating the various essences.
◈ Active Skill
◈ Covers the entire body in the scales of a True Dragon. The scales, formed from multiple fused essences, absorb or reflect both physical and magical attacks.
◈ 20% chance to absorb damage.
◈ 20% chance to reflect damage.
Hehehe.
Did they really think I would just blindly subordinate multiple essences to the Lesser Drake’s essence?
My body had already stepped halfway out of the realm of humanity.
From the moment I became able to activate Dragon Form, I had grown closer to the dragon race.
I was confident that by treating the other essences as subordinate concepts under the framework of “dragon race,” I could digest them without issue.
“Cough.”
I couldn’t say there were no side effects at all.
I vomited a mouthful of blood, then used my regeneration ability to heal the internal injuries.
— You’re as reckless as ever, both then and now.
“It was worth it… blegh.”
— If your words and actions actually matched, I wouldn’t say anything.
Yeah, yeah.
I swallowed the rest of my retort.
I tested activating True Dragon Armor.
Black scales sprouted across my skin.
They covered my entire body.
It looked as if I were wearing armor, just like with Metal Reflection Armor.
I wrapped my fingers in explosive magic power and gave it a light tap. The scales bounced the force back with a powerful elastic rebound.
“Not bad.”
The defensive power of True Dragon Armor was exactly what you’d expect from a 5-star skill.
When I poured in even more magic power, a crack appeared with a sharp sound.
— Oh? Its defense has increased quite a bit.
“It can also restore itself by consuming mana.”
The scales quickly regained their luster.
Ordinary attacks would no longer be able to penetrate True Dragon Armor.
“Let’s head back.”
— This region is still in chaos, is it not?
“It would take forever to clean everything up.”
The aftereffects of World Severance would last at least several months.
If I had devoured the essence of an angel species, I might have been able to erase the power of Klyphoth that had spread across France.
“With my current strength, it’s impossible.”
Klyphoth.
And the schemes of the Old Gods were only just beginning.
I had gained an advantage by eliminating Rene Davis early, but I couldn’t afford to waste any more time in France.
“In the end, I need to become even stronger.”
To properly utilize the formation techniques I had learned from the angel, I needed to devour more essences inside the Tower.
— Now that you mention it, your promotion test is coming up soon.
“There’s no need to stay here and wait another month.”
Completing Tower missions only required the approval of the host country.
However—
The promotion test could not be taken in another country.
The Diamond promotion test.
It was the first stage where I would face players from dimensions other than humanity.
“A Diamond promotion test in my second year. I’m getting nervous.”
— Why don’t you wipe that grin off your face first?
“Is it that obvious?”
— You look like you don’t know what to do with yourself from sheer excitement.
I swallowed my laughter.
It finally felt like I had reached the true starting line of my revenge.