Demon Evolution System

Chapter 23

Hale turned around the corner and shouted. “Attack.” he yelled as he charged towards the Lizardcop, which was waiting around the corner.

One of the trolls suddenly paused.

Its head lifted.

Yellow eyes narrowed.

“ROOOAAAGH—!”

The roar shook the cave.

Step, step— Boros charged first.

The stone floor cracked beneath his boots as mana surged through his body.His shield slammed forward as his axe flared with faint mana reinforcement. He crashed into the first troll like a battering ram, the impact echoing thunderously as stone-like skin cracked under the force.

BOOM—!

The creature staggered back, roaring in surprise as Boros followed with a brutal axe swing that carved into its thigh.

“Too slow!” Boros laughed.

The troll retaliated, swinging a massive fist down like a falling boulder—but Boros planted his shield and absorbed the blow head-on.

CRASH—!

Dust exploded outward.

Behind him, Hale and Dren moved in perfect sync.

Hale swept in from the left, longsword flashing as he aimed for the troll’s knee joint—one of the few vulnerable points. The blade bit deep, sparks flying as metal scraped against hardened flesh.

Dren followed up immediately, his thinner blade darting forward with precision, stabbing into the same wound and twisting.

The troll howled in pain.

Kira raised her staff, chanting rapidly. Soft green light wrapped around Boros and Kael, reinforcing their bodies and sharpening their reflexes.

Soon after, Kael went driving towards the other troll. The troll swung its massive club, attacking Kael, who lowered his head to dodge the incoming attack.

Whip—

The troll’s club brushed past in front of his eyes. His eyes widened at the attack that scratched his nose.

Flustered, he hurriedly distanced himself from the troll, but the monster followed him closely, as if angered by the human who had suddenly attacked them.

Miles didn’t rush in.

He circled.

While the others focused on the first troll, the second one charged forward, club swinging down with terrifying speed toward Kael.

Miles moved.

He vanished into the shadows at the edge of the cave wall, his footsteps silent. As the troll lifted its arm to strike, Miles darted in low, sliding beneath the arc of the swing.

His daggers flashed.

He slashed across the back of the troll’s knee—once, twice—precise and controlled. The reinforced blades carved through muscle fibers already strained by movement.

The troll stumbled and swung its tail at Miles.

Miles stepped on the sudden swerve of the troll's tail, leaped twice in the air, and slashed the troll’s eye with his sword.

He was elaborate and accurate. He made no unnecessary movements and without even using any special skills, Miles tackled the Lizardcops alone.

A new C-rank awakener and a rookie in raiding rifts, but Kael could see that Miles' movements seemed like those of a veteran.

The troll, which lost its only eye, screamed while covering its face with both hands.

Before it could recover, Kael drove his sword straight into its exposed abdomen, twisting hard. Dark blood sprayed across the cave floor.

Of course, losing just one of its eyes alone would not totally incapacitate the beast, as it still had its other keen senses. Still, losing its sight had primarily affected its fighting power.

There was one important thing to remember when dealing with trolls, and that they hated fire and their tails were both their weapons and weakness.

Whip— the troll aggressively swung its arm at Kael, who managed to block the attack, but the impact still pushed him backwards.

The troll shifted its direction towards Miles again and growled angrily at him before swinging its club at him. Miles leapt away from the spot he was standing. He couldn’t use skills like hellflame because he was avoiding drawing unnecessary attention.

For now he could only attack with his basic skills and stats. The troll attacked again and Miles moved backwards. He stepped firmly on the cave’s wall and used it to propel himself towards the troll.

The distance between them narrowed in an instant. The troll’s tail made a rough swishing sound as it crashed against the wall.

Boom— the wall shattered into smaller debris.

Miles was in the air and with heavy force he dropped back to the ground, coating his dagger with crimson-red demonic energy and sliced off the troll’s tail. The beast screamed out in pain.

From behind, Kael, who was taking his time to heal with the help of Kira’s healing magic, stabbed the troll from behind, his sword piercing its torso.

Miles jumped and slashed the beast's neck and cut its head off.

[Ding: You have killed a B-rank demonic beast.]

[4 attribute point gained]

The two messages popped up before Miles' retina, which only he could see.

The death scream of the first troll echoed through the cavern like a funeral bell.

The remaining troll froze mid-motion.

Its massive body went rigid, breath hitching as the sound registered—not just noise, but loss. Then its head slowly turned toward the corpse, toward the headless body collapsing into the blood-slick stone.

For half a second, there was silence.

Then the troll roared.

“GRAAAAAAAAH—!”

The roar was different from before. Deeper. Rawer. It wasn’t the mindless aggression of a beast defending territory—it was fury. Rage born from instinct and grief twisted into violence.

The demonic energy around the creature surged violently, cracking the cave floor beneath its feet.

Hale’s eyes widened. “Brace yourselves—!” he frantically yelled. But it was too late.

The troll slammed its club into the ground, sending a shockwave ripping through the cavern. Stone exploded upward, the force hurling Hale and Dren backward like ragdolls.

CRASH—!

Hale hit the wall hard, the breath knocked clean from his lungs as his armor screamed in protest. Dren rolled across the ground, skidding through blood and debris before slamming shoulder-first into a jagged outcrop.

“Urgh—!” Dren choked, pain flaring white-hot through his arm.

Boros, however, laughed.

“That’s it?” he barked, planting his shield with confidence. “Are you angry now? Good! Makes you sloppy!”

Mana flared violently around him as he charged, shield raised, axe gleaming.

“Come on, you ugly bastard!” he taunted.

The troll snarled and met him head-on.

BOOM—!

Shield and club collided, the impact deafening. Boros skidded back half a step—but his grin only widened.

“Hah! That's all you’ve got?”

He pushed forward recklessly, axe swinging in a wide arc aimed at the troll’s ribs.

The blade bit in—but not deep enough.

The troll ignored the wound entirely.

Its massive fist lashed out.

Boros barely raised his shield in time.

CRACK—!

The blow sent him flying backward, slamming into the ground with bone-rattling force. Dust erupted around him.

Hale forced himself upright, coughing. “Boros—stop rushing it! Hold formation!”

But Boros didn’t listen.

“ Don't worry!” Boros snapped, spitting blood. “I’ve got this!” He surged forward again, abandoning any defensive stance.

That was the mistake.

The troll feinted left—then twisted violently, its tail whipping around with terrifying speed.

WHAM—!

The tail smashed into Hale before he could react.

“AGH—!”