Chapter 85: Evolution Paths
Deep in the forest, where the retreating Morveth horde had fled, Supreme Commander Vorgath stared toward the distant walls, a complicated expression crossing his face.
"My lord," Zarvok said. His body was long, unnaturally thin, and covered in crimson scales. "That arrogant fool Gorath has fallen."
"The humans are at their weakest right now. We could crush them with a full assault — nothing they have could hold against us."
Vorgath stayed silent for a long moment, unreadable as ever, before he finally spoke.
"I thought you were smarter than this, Gorath."
Gorath fell silent for a moment, his expression turning puzzled "What do you mean, my lord?"
Vorgath glanced toward the fortress "Have you not noticed the one who built those walls?"
"She’s done nothing but watch the battle from above. She never joined the fight."
"When I looked at her, I realized she was watching me too. Her eyes were sharp, calculating... the eyes of a predator waiting for its prey to reveal its intentions."
"That Ascendant has avoided the fighting so far, staying back and doing nothing but watch over the walls. Tell me—if three Fallen attacked at once, do you really think he’d just stand there and watch?"
"But my lord," Zarvok said, "there are three of us against two of them, not counting the Awakened forces we command. We can absolutely overwhelm them and take Blackthorn."
"Yes. We could overwhelm them." Vorgath’s voice stayed level. "But it would cost us your fall, or Varkhane’s, or possibly both. And if that happens, taking Blackthorn won’t have been worth the price."
"I’ve already sent word to our lord. Two more Fallen will arrive within two days. Then we strike with everything we have and wipe them out without losing a single one of our own." His eyes narrowed. "And we make them pay for Gorath."
Back in Blackthorn, in one of the fortress’s quiet rooms, a young man lay lost in sleep.
A woman stood beside his bed, dressed in a simple outfit resembling a household servant’s attire, her eyes fixed on him with the kind of worry usually reserved for a mother watching over her child.
Nearby, another woman lounged on a couch, dressed in an elegant gown befitting a high-born noblewoman, her purple hair and eyes catching the light as she idly inspected her nails.
The two women kept exchanging glances that felt like warnings, though neither said a word. The room stayed silent.
Then the young man’s eyes opened, and his hand shot to his head. "Ugh — what the hell is this headache."
The maid was at his side instantly. "Young Master, are you alright?"
He looked at her. "...Eliza?" His eyes swept the room. "Don’t worry, I’m fine. How long was I out?"
"About twelve hours," the purple-eyed girl said from the couch, not bothering to sit up straight. "I was busy holding this miserable fortress together while you napped, so don’t worry about a thing." A faint smile touched her lips. "And no need to thank me. This is simply what a subordinate does when her superior decides to slack off on his duties."
Malrik pushed himself up fast. "What happened while I was out — did the Morveth attack?"
"Hmm... No."
Lilith tilted her head slightly, like the answer bothered her more than it should have.
"Honestly, I found it disappointing. They had the perfect window to hit you at your weakest, and they did absolutely nothing with it."
"Maybe their commander’s more cautious than I gave him credit for. Or maybe he’s just an idiot."
"Or... maybe he figured out that I stayed out of the fight because of the walls. If I stepped onto that battlefield myself, I’d kill him and every insect under his command." She shrugged. "So perhaps the fool isn’t completely brainless after all."
"So they’re going to retreat, then?" Malrik asked, still not quite believing it could be that simple.
Lilith let out a short laugh and sank back into the couch, more comfortable now.
"Doubt it. Idiots like that never know when to quit. They always find some new way to be stupid right before I kill them." She added, cold and flat, "And honestly, I’d be a little disappointed if they just ran."
Malrik tilted his head, turning her words over, and found himself agreeing with all of it. "So they’re planning something. What do we do about it?"
"Young Master." Eliza’s voice cut in. "After the battle, I had a few things from the battlefield collected. I thought they might be useful to you."
She pulled a string of corpses out of her spatial ring — nearly ten of them, laid out one after another, the bull-shaped Fallen’s body among them.
Malrik’s face lit up the moment he saw the pile, his eyes settling on the bull almost immediately. He had completely forgotten about the corpse after the battle.
"Eliza, you never cease to amaze me." Malrik looked genuinely delighted, as if she’d just handed him a treasure.
"I’m only doing my duty, Young Master." Eliza kept her usual calm composure, though the small smile tugging at her lips grew a little wider. Then she glanced at Lilith, the look in her eyes unmistakably triumphant.
Lilith’s expression remained unchanged. Somehow, that made Eliza’s smile even harder to hide.
Malrik, meanwhile, seemed completely oblivious to the silent battle happening right beside him.
"Alright, then. We need to get ready too. I think I’ve got an idea." Something sharp settled into Malrik’s expression.
"Eliza, let Ronan and Kael know I’m awake. I want everyone in the war room in an hour."
Eliza nodded and headed for the door. "Understood, Young Master
The moment the door closed, Malrik started going through the bodies. It didn’t take long for him to realize Eliza hadn’t collected just any corpses. Every one of them had reached Level 50 and possessed a Law Seed.
All nine possessed Law Seeds, yet the aura radiating from them was far from equal, some noticeably stronger than others.
That got him genuinely excited — these were some of the strongest Awakened Morveth in the entire horde.
Then a thought hit him hard enough to freeze him in place. What if I evolve them right now? Could they reach Fallen-rank the same way Lokris did?
The thought of having ten Fallen-rank souls in his army made his heart race.
Ten Fallen-rank souls would let him wipe out anything standing in his way and put an end to this ridiculous trial once and for all.
But that was ambition talking. Reality landed a lot harder once he pulled up his status screen to check his Evolution Points.
[ Total EP: 1,800 ]
He’d left House Vesperion with 2,700. Nine hundred had already gone into evolving Lokris, leaving him with 1,800 — and he had no idea when he’d see more, which meant every point had to count.
There was something else he’d wanted to try for a while now. He reached toward the bull Morveth’s corpse.
"Rise."
Black and green mana spiraled together and poured into the bull’s body. It shuddered.
Malrik felt resistance pushing back against him, but he kept pressing until the body went still, and a soul rose out of it in the same bull-like shape — except this one had two arms, where the corpse itself had only had one.
The bull-shaped soul dropped to its knees before him, and the system’s voice followed.
[ Resurrection successful. ]
[ This soul has met the requirements for naming. ]
[ Would you like to assign a name? ]
[ Yes / No ]
Malrik looked over the massive creature and sighed internally. It was huge, violent-looking, and judging by the vacant stare, thinking wasn’t exactly where it excelled.
Hmm... What should I call you?
His gaze lingered on the massive bull for a moment longer, searching for a name that suited it.
...Biggie .....Yeah. That fits.
Biggie’s new status panel appeared in front of him.
[ Name: Biggie ]
[ Rank: Fallen ]
[ Level: 43 ]
[ Potential: Rare ★★★ ]
[ Law Seed: Steel ]
[ Law Rank: Medium Law ]
[ Skills: Brute Force, Physical Enhancement, Overdrive ]
The first thing that caught his attention was Biggie’s level — 43, only seven levels short of qualifying for the next rank up.
That explained why Lokris had struggled against him, despite Lokris being an Epic-rarity race and carrying a High-Rank Law compared to Biggie’s own.
Biggie’s Law was Steel, which made perfect sense given his whole living-metal transformation. It was only a Medium-Rank Law, though. Nothing particularly remarkable.
Which was exactly what gave Malrik the idea he’d wanted to try. He pulled out Gravios’s corpse along with its Law Seed and held it in his hand.
He had a theory about why reviving Gravios had failed before, but he set that thought aside for now.
He walked over to Biggie. "Open your mouth."
Biggie stared at him, confusion written across his face, but obeyed anyway.
Malrik dropped the seed into his mouth. "Swallow it."
Biggie did. Nothing happened. He just stood there staring at Malrik, who stared right back, then checked the status screen — no change at all.
"Damn it, why isn’t this working? Did I mess something up?" Malrik cursed, unable to figure out why Biggie hadn’t changed at all.
"If you thought feeding him a Law Seed would let him start using it right away, you’re wrong." Lilith’s lips curled into a mocking smile. "It’s really not that simple."
"Then how long does it take before he can actually use it?"
"It depends on the person. And with a brain that seems to be made of muscle, I’d say he’ll need at least ten years before he figures it out." Lilith looked the bull over with open disdain.
What the hell did I just waste a Law Seed on?
Hearing that, Malrik nearly spat blood, feeling like he’d just wasted a perfectly good Law Seed on a complete idiot.
Malrik looked at Biggie’s ugly face, and for a moment, he genuinely wanted to punch him hard enough to make him spit the Law Seed back out on the spot.
But just before he acted, a new thought crossed his mind.
What if I used my Talent to evolve Biggie instead?
Could evolution make him capable of using it?
Malrik wanted to push Biggie’s strength up as fast as possible — he was going to need him soon. But Biggie’s current abilities, and his Law, were both painfully modest.
If the Fallen commander he was about to face turned out to wield a High-Rank Law — or worse, more than one — Biggie’s current strength wouldn’t come close to being enough. That was exactly why he’d tried feeding him the Weight Law seed in the first place, sensing it might pair well with Biggie’s own Steel Law and boost him significantly.
He didn’t have another option. He had to try.
Checking Biggie’s Potential, he found it sitting at Rare ★★★ — meaning he could evolve it up to Rare ★★★★★. The cost would only run 300 Evolution Points.
He pulled up Biggie’s status panel, allocated the 300 points, and pressed Evolve.The moment he did, something completely unexpected happened.
[ Ding ]
[ Material Detected. ]
[ Multiple Soul Evolution Paths Available. ]
[ Please select One Evolution Path. ]