Chapter 85: Evolution Trial
Ren moved fast, every action ripped through one of the summons. He ensured that he executed the attacks to kill and take them down. His EXP rose dramatically, and with each one he killed, he got closer to being able to get his next evolution.
One of the creatures lunged at him at full speed. It was the last of the first twenty that had been sent. Ren did not care too much for it. He dodged the first swing and dodged the second, keeping his eyes on it even as it was the last one. He had learned to not underestimate anything.
When he got a clear chance to attack, he lunged in and dug his claw right through the chest of the monster. His claw dug deep and grabbed the heart. He pulled it out in one move.
When the heart was out, his eyes fixed on it. It was still beating right in his hands. This heart.
"This is a human heart," Ren muttered. He could tell that without any doubt. This was indeed a human heart, and it was here, beating in his hands right now.
He looked up, eyes pinned on Ken, who was standing ahead.
"What are these creatures?" he asked.
Ken looked at him. His face said it all. He was not willing to speak. Ren could see that.
"Did you use humans to make these creatures that you now control?" Ren asked. He crushed the heart in his hand and tossed it aside, then he started approaching.
"Tell me, Ken, are these creatures that you sent after me human?" Ren asked.
Ken saw that nothing was stopping Ren. He flew into a full-blown panic.
"Arghhhh, stay away, you bloody monster. I am a royal knight, and I’ll not allow you to disgrace me!" he yelled at the top of his lungs and used the same summoning puddle to cause more of the same monsters to rise, but Ren did not even bother to allow them to come close.
He unleashed a powerful gravity that slammed all the creatures around Ken into a paste. Ken summoned more, and Ren did it again, killing them faster than they could even react.
He was gathering EXP from this, but his attention had shifted from the gains and was now focused on getting the answer from Ken.
Ken saw that nothing he was doing at the moment was working, and finally panic set in, but it had not grown to the extent where he would run yet.
Ren suddenly transformed back into his dragon form, domineering and instilling fear in all that looked upon him. Ken looked at Ren, and only now did he realize how much shit he was in.
When Ren had been in his human form, he held the firm belief that he could defeat him, but now he saw the dragon. He saw the stuff of nightmares, and he oozed pure power, pure strength, pure chaos.
"Tell me now, are these creatures human?"
Ren thundered, his voice so heavy that it forced Ken to his knees.
Ren watched Ken tremble before him, but he did not care. He wanted to know what these creatures were, and he would go the extra mile to ensure that he knew.
"Th-they are human-monster chimeras," he finally spoke, his head on the floor as he tried to hide his face.
"My family have worked with the Crimson Church for ages, in hopes of being able to create the perfect chaos life form.
The byproducts of the experiments on monsters and humans created this. We called them Dark Chimeras, and my family use our blood to summon them in desperate times."
He spilled all the information as fast as he could.
Ren listened to every word, and it managed to piss him off more and more.
He transformed back into his sovereign shell, landed on the ground, and walked towards Ken.
Ken gritted his teeth and got up to fight, but gravity slammed into him and sent him back down with no room to refuse. Ren kept the gravity constant and ensured that he was not able to move at all.
"You and your family killed humans and monsters and used them for experiments. Now you use them as toys.
Sigh, I want to be infinitely angry with what you have done, but I am no hero, I am no savior. Your sins will come back to haunt you though, that I am sure of."
He stood back up. "Run, run as fast as you can out of here and go back to where you were sent from. Tell them that the dragon has decided that no one, and I mean no one, will step here and take what is his.
I’ll do my best to not meddle in the affairs of humans as long as they do not meddle in mine," Ren said and then turned around.
Ken watched Ren walk away. Ren could tell that in that moment, Ken was fighting with himself deeply to try not to do something stupid at the moment. He fought and fought and finally stopped himself. He got on his feet, swallowed his pride, and then he walked, limping, barely able to stand.
[Quest Completed]
[Hidden Quest completed: Abomination Creation. Reward: 5000 EXP]
[New Long-term Quest: Destroy the Crimson Church. Progress Reward: 3000 EXP]
The messages came in fast, so fast that he could barely react to them. He was leveling up so fast that he could barely keep up, and in a few seconds, he crossed the threshold of level 40.
A combination of all that was gained from the fight and all that was gained from the rewards. It was a reward fitting for his efforts, but the happiness did not stay long, because the message that followed was unlike any he had seen so far.
[Evolution available]
[One path available]
[Evolution will force-start in 10 minutes]
[Prepare for Evolution Trial]
[Host is advised to prepare. First Evolution Trial has been triggered. Host must complete the trial to know what path he has gained and also evolve into it.]