Chapter 49: Killing Spree
"Go and defend Eris from now on."
Ethan commanded as his cold gaze remained fixed on the zombie blood ant soldier. The crimson-armored creature immediately lowered its head.
Click...
Without wasting another second, it turned around and began walking toward the entrance of the hall. Its six legs moved steadily against the dirt floor as it gradually disappeared into the darkness.
Ethan watched its figure for a few moments before finally turning around.
"At least it can still follow simple orders." His gaze shifted toward the small pits scattered across the ground.
The traces of their earlier battle were still clearly visible.
Several zombie blood ants were already rushing around the area, quickly filling the holes with dirt and restoring the ground to its original state.
Ethan ignored them and slowly walked back toward his throne.
His footsteps echoed throughout the enormous hall as his mind continued to revolve around everything that had happened.
’What a mess.’
He had originally thought that evolving his subordinates would be relatively simple.
Inject Miasma, trigger the authority, and allow them to evolve—and that was all.
Instead, his first attempt had nearly turned into a disaster.
The ant had evolved successfully, but its potential had been reduced to the lowest possible level. Then, because it had reached his realm, it had awakened an independent will and attempted to rebel. And finally, he had been forced to beat it into submission.
’It’s a good thing I didn’t test this on Eris.’ A faint smile appeared on Ethan’s face. If he had experimented with Eris instead, the consequences could have been disastrous.
The same applied to the two talented zombie blood ants he had appointed as his guards. Their potential was far too valuable!
If their evolution had failed in the same manner... Ethan didn’t even want to imagine it.
He reached the throne and sat down. The moment his body touched the faintly warm soil, he leaned backward.
’Still...’ He closed his eyes. ’This wasn’t completely useless.’
The evolution had revealed something Ethan hadn’t expected. The Authority of Sovereign Inheritance had failed to preserve the ant’s original potential.
But it had still forced the ant to evolve, and that alone was strange.
Normally, evolution required an individual to reach the limits of their current realm. Their attributes had to be pushed to their maximum. Only after reaching that threshold could they attempt to break through.
At least, that was how Ethan understood the system.
But the zombie blood ant had never reached the maximum of its F-rank stats. It hadn’t accumulated enough strength.
And yet, it had evolved!
Ethan’s fingers slowly tapped against the armrest as he thought. ’That means the Authority can bypass the conventional requirements for evolution.’
He slowly opened his eyes, gradually brightening. That realization was far more important than the ant itself.
The conventional method required a subordinate to slowly strengthen itself until every attribute reached its limit. But his authority had skipped that entire process.
Even with his insufficient Miasma mastery, he had forced an F-rank monster into the E-rank realm.
’If I can improve my control over Miasma, I might eventually be able to evolve them while preserving their potential. At the thought of this, his smile widened slightly.
But then another thought entered his mind. ’If I can do this to my subordinates...’
’Can I do it to myself?’
The answer should have been impossible, but Ethan was different.
He possessed a class skill that completely defied conventional evolutionary limits.
Infinite Evolution.
An SSS-rank class skill.
His growth was no longer supposed to be restricted by the ordinary rules of evolution. Moreover, he had already experienced something that should have been impossible.
His previous evolution had occurred even though he hadn’t reached the maximum of every single attribute.
Even more importantly... It wasn’t even a major breakthrough!
Ethan’s expression became thoughtful as he rubbed his hand against his chin.
’Normally, minor realms shouldn’t cause a true evolution.’
A major breakthrough represented a qualitative transformation. A minor breakthrough merely increased one’s strength within the same major realm.
At least, that was what Ethan had learned from both Jake and Eris. But his own body had completely ignored that principle.
He had undergone an actual evolution after breaking through a minor realm. His body and energy had changed.
’So what exactly does Infinite Evolution allow me to do?’ Ethan slowly leaned forward.
For the first time, he began looking at his own evolution from an entirely different perspective.
Perhaps Infinite Evolution wasn’t simply allowing him to grow beyond the conventional limits.
Perhaps it was allowing him to ignore them entirely.
Of course, it was only a guess. But just the mere thought caused Ethan’s lips to curl upward.
He didn’t know whether his assumption was correct, and there wasn’t enough information to prove it.
But there was only one way to find out.
Ethan’s eyes gleamed mysteriously. ’I should test it.’
He calmly leaned back against the throne. For now, however, there was something else that needed to be done.
༺━━━━━━༺༻━━━━━━༻
Eris had been extremely busy. Ever since receiving a new, powerful guard from her king, along with his latest orders, she had been working almost without rest.
One egg after another was laid across the spacious chamber. The enormous room had changed considerably over the past few days.
The blood ants had followed Ethan’s orders and expanded the queen’s chamber; the walls had also been reinforced.
The floor had been covered with softer layers of dirt and plant fibers. Small ridges had also been created across the room to separate the eggs and prevent them from accidentally being crushed.
Everything had been adjusted for Eris’s comfort.
The blood ants worked tirelessly; after all, these weren’t ordinary eggs. They were the future members of their colony.
Eris herself sat quietly in the center of the chamber. Her giant body moved slightly as another egg emerged from her body.
It fell gently onto the prepared ground.
One.
Then another.
And another.
The process was entirely natural for her. Unlike most living creatures, Eris didn’t require a male to reproduce. Her skill allowed her body to naturally form eggs.
However, that was only the first step since the eggs themselves were not yet alive.
They required an activation mechanism—her blood.
Once her blood touched an egg, it would seep through the shell and act as the catalyst needed to fertilize it.
From that point onward, the egg would slowly develop. Within approximately a week, a new blood ant would emerge.
It was one of the reasons Eris was so important to the colony. She wasn’t simply their queen but their source of life.
Eris carefully approached the newest batch of eggs and raised one of her arms as a small wound opened.
Normally, crimson blood would immediately flow from it. But this time...
"...?" Eris froze.
A drop of blood fell onto the egg, just that... it wasn’t crimson.
It was green.
Eris stared at the strange liquid in disbelief. ’Green?’
Her heart trembled as she immediately moved closer.
Another green drop fell as she widened her eyes.
’Can my blood no longer fertilize the eggs?’
For the first time in a long while, a trace of panic appeared within her mind. If her blood had changed so much that she could no longer fertilize her eggs...
Then of what use was she?
Eris immediately moved toward another egg. She allowed another drop of her green blood to fall upon its surface.
And... Nothing happened...
For several seconds, the egg remained faintly crimson. Eventually, Eris’s heart sank with mixed emotions.
But then, a faint green light suddenly appeared beneath its shell.
"What...?" She muttered in shock, looking at the egg.
Slowly and gradually, the crimson shell began changing. The color spread across the entire surface until the egg became completely green.
It had worked; her blood had successfully fertilized it.
But...
It wasn’t crimson anymore; it was green.
Eris remained motionless for several seconds before a faint happiness emerged within her mind. ’It worked...’
Her blood had changed, and along with it, her eggs had changed. But they were still alive.
She could still produce offspring and strengthen the colony.
Eris lowered her head slightly. ’My lord...’
A strange warmth filled her heart as her face turned bright red.
’I will not disappoint you.’
༺━━━━━━༺༻━━━━━━༻
"Haah..."
Ethan’s rugged breathing echoed through the forest. His jade-colored body leaned heavily against the trunk of a large tree.
His chest rose and fell rapidly as his entire body was drenched in blood. Deep crimson liquid covered his arms, chest, and face, dripping from his fingertips and staining the ground beneath him.
Around him, the dead bodies of countless monsters were scattered throughout the forest.
Some had been torn apart, while others had been crushed.
Their blood had soaked into the soil, dyeing the earth a deep red hue.
Ethan slowly raised his head; his jade-green eyes remained eerily calm despite his exhausted appearance.
A dim cerulean screen flickered before his vision.
*Ding!*
---
———————————————————
[#~System Notification~#]
———————————————————
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
---
"Three levels..." Ethan sighed as he glanced at the corpses surrounding him.
"Not bad."