Landlord World - Start with SSS talent-Chapter 252: Noah’s Harvest
Zeka looked up at the Lords hanging from the ceiling of the cave. His initial emotions were fear and unease—but they quickly gave way to excitement and delight.
He was only surprised that Vinelord had managed to capture so many people. But once he realized that each of them could become a permanent "buff" for him, he became utterly exhilarated.
His gaze toward them was filled with cruelty and greed.
[What's the matter? Still thinking about that girl?]
Zeka flinched at the voice but still frowned and replied, "Of course! She's the goddess in my heart. When everyone else looked down on me, she was the only one who protected and believed in me without condition."
"She followed me to this world… I can't abandon her."
"I need to become stronger—only then can I truly win her heart."
"Hurry up, help me absorb them all."
[Hahahaha… leave the rest to me.]
As soon as Vinelord finished speaking, vines burst from Zeka's body.
One end latched onto the back of Zeka's neck, while the other shot into the distance, connecting with a massive spherical bundle of entwined vines.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
A heartbeat-like sound echoed as the massive vine-ball throbbed violently.
The vines embedded in the necks of the captured Lords began to stir as well.
But instead of feeding nutrients, they now began to *drain* what remained of the Lords' lives.
"Hahahaha…" Zeka laughed wildly as he felt a stream of warm energy flooding into his body.
Power… an immense surge of power.
So overwhelming that Zeka trembled in ecstasy, his face twisting into something monstrous.
Suddenly, a flash of light cut across the ceiling where the Lords hung.
Whoong!
That eerie sound rang out—
Then, their bodies were sliced cleanly in half. Blood spurted into the air.
But strangely, only a little blood flowed—just a brief spurt before everything stopped.
The vines connecting them were severed, and their corpses dropped like rain.
A rain of blood and flesh. Zeka stood frozen in shock at the grotesque sight.
But on the faces of the dying Lords… was the faintest smile,
as if they had finally been freed from the hell they'd endured.
[AAA!! Who?! Who dares ruin my feast?!]
Zeka's face contorted with rage, morphing into something grotesque,
and a completely different voice shouted from his mouth.
Meanwhile, hidden in the shadows, Noan watched as notification messages flickered before his eyes—
and he laughed so hard he could barely keep quiet.
[Ding! You have killed 1,140 Lords and received 28,550 Lord Points.]
[Ding! Your current Lord Point total is 34,490.]
Noan looked at the number, then turned his gaze back to Zeka. The thought of killing Zeka—once so tempting—completely vanished from his mind.
Letting him live seemed far more beneficial than killing him.
Just by letting Zeka live a little longer, Noan had earned over 33,000 Lord Points.
If he continued tailing Zeka, he could very well earn hundreds, even thousands of times more.
Noan quietly retreated a bit, careful not to let Vinelord detect his presence.
After all, the opponent was known as a Dark God. Though restricted to Level 5, Noan was sure Vinelord still possessed some kind of special power.
[AAA!!!]
Vinelord roared in rage. Countless vines lashed out wildly, wreaking havoc throughout the cave.
The entire space trembled violently, with rocks and dust collapsing down, burying large portions of the area.
Moments later, Zeka stood panting, trembling with fury.
He didn't understand—
No, more accurately, Vinelord didn't understand.
Why had things turned out like this?
Today was supposed to be the day—
The day he absorbed all his stored "food" and became powerful enough to break the seal of this world.
But instead…
The biggest problem now was—
Who had done this?
He hadn't even seen the one who had destroyed his entire food supply.
Now calm again, Vinelord began to reflect—and the more he thought, the more fear began to gnaw at him.
If the one who did this could toy with him so easily, then they could just as easily kill him.
He was a Dark God—but not a fool.
If that beam of light had been aimed at him instead of the captured Lords…
This body of his would surely have faced instant death.
But the attacker didn't strike him—
Which meant they were toying with him.
Vinelord shuddered.
For the first time ever, a being worshipped and feared as a Dark God—felt a crushing sense of dread from an unknown existence.
Not even when facing the full might of the Elf race… had he felt fear like this.
Vinelord looked around. Finding nothing unusual, he spoke aloud: [You and I have no grudge—why are you trying to suppress me?]
No response.
Vinelord extended his senses, scanning the entire area.
His magical perception swept across every inch of the cave—even the smallest stone did not escape his notice— and still, he found nothing abnormal.
That could only mean one of two things:
Either the intruder had already left, or… they possessed a stealth talent surpassing Rank A, rendering them undetectable even to a Dark God.
If it was the first, then things had become manageable.
But if it was the second—then the situation was far worse than he imagined.
That beam of light earlier…
If Vinelord's guess was correct, it was at least Rank S, maybe even higher.
Stealth ability: Rank A+ or above.
Offensive power: Rank S.
Facing a being like that…
Even Vinelord felt a rare and chilling fear.
Frowning, he stared at the massive sphere of entwined vines above and contemplated something.
In the end, he made a risky decision.
Using Zeka's body, Vinelord raised a hand—
A vine erupted from his severed arm and shot straight toward the vine-sphere hanging from the cave ceiling.
BANG!
The vine pierced through the mass, weaving through countless others until it reached a hidden blood reservoir—
a pool of blood Vinelord had been accumulating for years.
The blood surged through the slender tendril, flowing directly into Zeka's body.
"UM!" Zeka clenched his teeth. He felt a surge of overwhelming power flooding his limbs—
but it was accompanied by excruciating pain,
as if every single cell in his body were exploding from within.
"AGH!!!"
Unable to bear it any longer, Zeka screamed.
His cry echoed through the cavern like the wail of a beast in torment.
Meanwhile, hidden deep in the shadows, Noan was calmly reviewing his harvest.
At that moment, a hint of disappointment flickered in his eyes—
Among the 1,140 Lords he had just killed, not a single one had reached Rank A or higher.
Only Rank B and below. Among them, Lords of Rank B accounted for less than 5% of the total Lords who had fallen by his hand.
If there had been a few Rank B Lords—or better yet, Rank A—then the number of Lord Points Noan would've earned would have easily surpassed 28,000 by several times.
However, he wasn't in a rush. As long as he followed Vinelord—no, as long as he followed Zeka—there were still countless treasures waiting for him in the future.
"System, how many Lord Points are required to evolve to Rank D+?"
[Ding! To evolve to Rank D+, you need 15,000 Lord Points.]
"What about from Rank D+ to Peak of Rank D?" Noan asked.
[Ding! From Rank D+ to Peak of Rank D, you need 25,000 Lord Points.]
"So that's a total of 40,000 Lord Points?" Noan stroked his chin. Right now, he had only around 34,000 Lord Points—he needed to work a bit harder.
Still, there was no need to rush. If he evolved now, it might draw unwanted attention. That's why he intended to wait until he returned to his own territory.
There, he would be completely safe, without the concern of anyone discovering his secrets.
Noan glanced at Vinelord, feeling rather pleased. If he hadn't possessed the *Extreme Challenge Medal*, he likely wouldn't feel so confident standing up to Vinelord like this.
…
Extreme Challenge Medal
Rank: ???
Level: 03
Effects:
- Reduces the power and defense of monsters equal to or lower than the user's level by 90%.
- For each level and rank above the user's, this effect decreases by 5%.
- When facing higher-level monsters, the medal activates a special effect:
+ 5% chance to instantly kill that monster.
+ Note: This effect only activates once per monster.
- Usage Restrictions:
+ Only effective during challenge events.
+ Still functions while stored in 'Storage'.
…
Noan looked at the information on the *Extreme Challenge Medal* and smiled to himself in satisfaction.
Combined with the power of his *Voidlight Execution* skill—Rank S+—he was nearly an invincible existence within the Challenge Space.
He was about to check other information when he suddenly noticed the icon for the *300 Kills* medal flashing.
His eyes shifted toward it with interest.
He tapped on the *300 Kills* medal icon, and a notification window immediately popped up in front of him.
[Ding! The special effect of the *300 Kills* medal has been activated.
You receive 50% bonus Lord Points when eliminating other Lords.
Current amount stored within the medal: 14,625 Lord Points.
Do you want to withdraw these points?]
Noan smiled, clearly delighted, and responded, "Yes!"
