I Can See Evolution Paths

The crimson aura surrounding the Ape Chief intensified. More rubble rose up from below and rushed towards the crimson aura. It wasn’t just stones anymore but broken towers, collapsed buildings, stone pillars, and even entire crystal bridges.

Everything pulled into the air, the floating debris circling faster with every second. The monsters slowly retreated from beneath it. Even the Stonehorn Behemoths backed away.

The Goblins stared upward.

Nobody understood.

The rubble continued gathering, larger, denser, until it became a single boulder of stone. Then even larger. The sphere grew beyond the height of the walls, beyond the palace, beyond anything the Goblins had ever imagined. It wasn’t a boulder anymore. It was the size of an entire town.

Its shadow slowly spread across the battlefield. The sunlight from the glowing cavern crystals disappeared. Everything became dark.

Children stopped running.

Even the monsters looked upward.

It felt like the sky itself was falling.

One Goblin Archer slowly lowered his bow. "What," he said.

A Goblin Spearman rubbed his eyes. "I’m seeing things," he said.

Another Goblin let out a quiet laugh, not because it was funny, but because his mind refused to accept what he was seeing. Others simply stared, unable to move. Even the monsters stopped roaring. The battlefield became eerily quiet, only the massive stone sphere continuing to rotate overhead.

The Ape Chief raised one hand, then roared. The town-sized boulder fell. Not toward the wall. Past it. Straight toward the city.

Sun’s smile disappeared. "No," he said.

Mithra immediately realized. "It’s aiming inside!" she said.

Both spun around. Beyond the wall, Goblin Hunters were escorting children, elders, families, and citizens still evacuating deeper into the city. The shadow slowly crawled across them. Some children looked upward, not understanding. One elderly Goblin stopped walking, his cane falling from his hand.

The Hunters immediately began screaming. "Run! RUN!"

Panic erupted.

Mithra immediately shouted, "Sun! We have to stop it!"

"I know!" Sun turned. "All Mages! Fire everything at—"

"No!" Mithra grabbed his arm. "If we destroy it," she said, pointing upward, "it’ll explode over the city. The fragments will still kill them."

Sun froze. His face slowly changed. He looked back toward the falling boulder, then toward the Ape Chief.

The monster was smiling.

Sun finally understood. It wasn’t trying to kill soldiers. It was forcing them into a choice. Destroy it, kill civilians. Don’t destroy it, kill civilians. No right answer existed.

Sun clenched Long. "Damn you," he said.

Mithra thought desperately. "We push it," she said. "If everyone attacks one side, maybe—"

A loud screech interrupted her. She turned. One Goblin Spearman had already moved, planting his spear into the ground. Kong landed on it.

"What are you—" Sun started.

Too late. The spear bent, then launched, and Kong shot into the sky.

Sun’s eyes widened. "KONG!"

The little monkey didn’t even look back. He simply flew toward the falling boulder.

[Buff].

Boom!!

His tiny hands slammed against the massive stone. Everything shook. For one heartbeat, nothing happened.

Then the town-sized boulder slowed.

Only a little.

Barely enough to notice.

But everyone noticed.

Every Goblin stared upward as the impossible was happening.

Mithra understood immediately. "He’s buying time!" she said. "Attack the left side! Don’t destroy it! Push it!"

For one second...

Nobody moved.

The boulder was too large.

The task was impossible.

Then one old Goblin Mage stepped forward, and his hands trembled. "...Even if it’s useless..."

A tiny fireball left his staff, and it struck the boulder.

It accomplished nothing.

A young Goblin Archer lowered his bow. "No." He picked up a broken spear instead. "If the Prophet’s friend’s beast is still fighting...So am I!"

He threw it.

Then another Goblin.

Then another.

Within seconds, the entire wall moved.

Every Mage cast.

Every Rider unleashed flames and wind.

Every Archer fired.

Every Spearman threw whatever they could find.

None of them believed they could stop it. But they simply refused to stop trying. And soon, the gigantic mass slowly began drifting away from the city.

Cheers began erupting. "It’s moving!"

"We’re doing it!"

Hope returned.

For only a moment.

The Ape Chief snorted as it landed down from the sky atop the falling boulder. The entire mass suddenly dropped again after the Chief Ape placed one foot against it, and then pushed downward.

The boulder accelerated.

Kong’s arms shook violently as he tried to hold back the boulder while it pressed him down.

Sun didn’t hesitate. "Throw me!" he shouted.

The Goblin Spearmen already knew.

Their spears bent, and Sun jumped, launched, and landed beside Kong. Without saying a word, he planted both feet and both hands against the boulder.

[Buff].

Golden light spread across both of them.

Sun laughed. "Don’t give up!" he said. "We can’t let this bastard destroy them! And I still haven’t gotten paid!"

Even Kong let out an amused screech. Then they pushed together.

The boulder slowly descended. Sun screamed, his muscles tearing, blood running from his hands. Kong’s tiny body trembled, his arms feeling like they were breaking.

The Chief laughed. It pushed harder. The boulder fell lower.

Goblin Mages continued firing wind. Riders unleashed flames. Everything pushed. Nothing was enough.

Sun’s veins bulged, his vision blurring. "Partner!" he shouted. "Are you having trouble?"

Kong screamed back.

And they kept pushing themselves to push harder.

Below, every Goblin watched.

Nobody could breathe or speak.

Even the monsters stopped fighting.

Everyone watched two tiny figures trying to stop an entire town.

...

The Ape Chief frowned.

Its instincts were screaming. It looked down at the tiny monkey beneath the mountain.

"Why..." The Ape Chief tilted its head. "Why aren’t they letting go?"

Every creature broke eventually.

Every prey surrendered.

But this one... This small monkey wasn’t; it somehow seemed to be trying to overcome this. "What nonsense. Why must there always be fools like you?"

The Chief raised another foot before slamming down once more. And then the boulder trembled even more as it forced itself down and pushed Kong back.

Kong screeched while Sun groaned.

And that only made the Chief Ape smile even more as he slammed down again and again.

...

Arthur was still fighting when he suddenly paused. A familiar warmth spread through him, exactly like Melo’s evolution. He turned, his eyes widening as he saw Kong, still pushing, still refusing to move.

It was then he began to see it, the evolution pathway for Kong.

[Kong]

[Species: Stone Monkey]

Evolution Path

[Fiery Stone Ape]

[Sky Rebellion Pillar]

[Heaven Shattering Star]

[Evolution Paths Analyzed: 18]

[Evolution Paths Discovered: 28]

Arthur smiled. Then the requirement appeared.

First Requirement:

[Level 15: 1/1]

Second Requirement:

[Push against an attack from an opponent vastly stronger than yourself without giving up for one minute: 1/1]

Arthur smiled. "...Of course."

He had seen countless evolution requirements.

Some required levels.

Some required a special blessing.

Some required a strange requirement.

Kong’s...

Simply required that he never give up and be level 15. He never doubted it. If anyone could satisfy a requirement like that...

It was Kong.

"I suppose I shouldn’t expect anything less." Arthur laughed. "Go ahead and show them, Kong... Show them your wrath."

...

Sun suddenly gasped as he felt a surge of heat rushing through his chest. He then glanced to the side to see Kong’s heartbeat pounding.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

Each beat echoed louder, and white light began to wrap around Kong’s figure.

Boom.

His cracked hands began healing.

Boom.

The blood disappeared.

Boom.

The shattered bones began repairing.

Boom.

The light exploded.

The boulder itself shook.

The Ape Chief actually stepped backward, and for the first time, its smile disappeared.

The light completely swallowed Kong. His tiny body slowly rose off the stone. Golden flames spiraled around him, not burning, flowing, like a sun being born.

His tail slowly grew longer.

His arms became broader.

His shoulders widened.

His chest expanded.

Muscles formed one by one as his tiny monkey frame became that of a true warrior. Golden fur ignited, then settled into brilliant metallic gold. Ancient crimson markings slowly spread across every muscle, one line, then another, like molten lava cooling into stone. Golden rings slowly formed around his wrists, another around each ankle.

Simple battle pants wove themselves together from golden light.

The pressure changed.

It wasn’t stronger but different.

Even the wind began circling him.

[Stone Monkey → Fiery Stone Ape]

The battlefield froze.

The Titan Boulder Ape stared in disbelief.

The Thunder Chimeras stopped screaming.

The Stonehorn Behemoths hesitated.

Even the Thunderbirds noticed as they paused and glanced over.

And the Titan Boulder Ape Chief stepped backward.

All of them felt it: something terrible had appeared.

Then Kong slowly opened his eyes; it was crimson-gold, and both colors burned together. He slowly exhaled, golden flames leaving his mouth. The massive rock beneath him cracked without him moving at all.

The Ape Chief’s eyes widened in shock as it could no longer understand how something so weak had changed.

No hesitation now.

Kong grabbed the boulder.

He actually ran across it, every footstep leaving burning footprints behind. The Chief Ape sent a fist that produced an air blast, but Kong twisted past the blow. And then he inhaled before his eyes shone even brighter.

[Fiery Rage]

Then the crimson markings across his arms suddenly ignited.

Golden fire erupted.

The flames didn’t spread outward, but they condensed. Layer after layer around both fists, and then the surrounding air distorted.

The boulder itself began cracking.

Without Kong moving.

Then he stepped forward before his fist connected.

For one second...

Nothing happened.

And then the impossible. The town-sized boulder that overshadowed the entire wall below began moving.

One Goblin blinked. "...It..."

Another rubbed their eyes and said. "Moved?"

It took a second before they all realized something.

Another screamed. "IT MOVED!!"

"IT ACTUALLY MOVED! EVERYONE IS SAVED!"

Every Goblin erupted together.

But Kong didn’t stop.

He sprinted straight toward the Ape Chief. The Chief swung, and Kong ducked beneath it, grabbing its face with one hand.

Everything became quiet.

Then he spun the Chief over and over before hurling him straight into the city.

Boooooooom!! The entire abandoned district shook.

Sun just stood there, blinking.

Then he started laughing so hard he almost fell over. "Partner," he said. "You’re ridiculous."

Kong landed beside him, and then he looked toward Sun. "...Partner."

Sun froze as his eyes widened. "You talked." He laughed so hard tears rolled down his face. "You idiot..." He wiped his eyes. "I am going to need to suffer from you talking now."

Kong smiled. "Let’s finish this."

Sun stared at Kong.

His mouth slowly opened. "...You’ve grown."

Kong looked down at his own hands and then flexed his fingers. Golden flames flickered across them before looking back at Sun.

And then the same mischievous grin appeared on his face. Exactly the same one he’d always had.

Only now it belonged to a taller monkey.

Sun laughed. "...You’re still you."

Kong smiled. "Of course!’

Sun held out his hand. "Let’s go," he said.

Kong grabbed it before both leaped from the falling boulder.

Behind them, the town-sized boulder crashed into the monster army.

Boooooooooooooom!!

The earth shook.

Stone, dust, and fire scattered. Everything disappeared beneath the impact.

The siege paused for one breathtaking moment.