Endless Evolution as an Undead

Chapter 5: Shadows and Echoes

The humid atmosphere of the underground tunnels of the SSS-rank dungeon buzzed with the malicious intent of an ongoing battle.

Arthur turned on his heel, just barely managing to dodge the sharp claw of the ferocious beast. Another Shadow Wolf appeared, lunging straight for his head, its sharp jaws snapping shut with a vicious bite force far stronger than that of an African crocodile.

Three more Shadow Wolves appeared around him, circling him slowly.

Unlike unintelligent Skeleton Warriors, the Shadow Wolves were intelligent by nature, able to strategize in small numbers to take out their opponents. As a 1v4 fight against intelligent and quick-witted creatures was no joke, Arthur had to use all of his skill and reflexes to evade each attack.

The wolf attacked from the side with speed. However, Arthur knew better than to hesitate. With increased agility and his Survival Instinct skill, which gave him a 10% boost to his stats, he quickly moved his feet and used the greatsword as a barrier to block an attack from the beast.

Slash!

The heavy sword swept through the air and struck the middle wolf, sending it flying into the walls of the cavern. The other three pounced immediately, taking bites at his limbs.

Ducking to the floor, Arthur used his speed-boosting skill.

«[Dash Active]»

Using his boosted dash speed, he dashed toward the second wolf, his grip tightening around the heavy sword as he pierced through the head of the beast, shattering it into pieces in an instant.

Only two remained.

But the last two wolves jumped at him simultaneously. Relying on his innate muscle memory from his previous life, Arthur parried their jaws with his sword, and with a vicious upward thrust, he killed the third.

The last wolf attempted to flee back into the shadows but was pinned down to the floor with his shortsword.

Silence filled the room again.

«[System Notification]

Level Up!

Congratulations on reaching Level 8.

Evolution Progress: 66%»

Exhaling a breath of air, Arthur leaned on his greatsword.

“I guess I have grown considerably stronger in the last five days since my fight with the Level 5 Skeleton Warrior,” he murmured, forming a tight fist with his free hand.

His bones were not the fragile pile of bones they had been before. They had grown stronger with every level-up and were presently denser and full of strength.

“I am now able to face four Level 7 Shadow Wolves alone. The fight wasn’t an easy one, but I definitely made tremendous progress compared to when I was still Level 1.”

Curious about his progress, Arthur called up the System Interface.

«[System Status Window]

Name: Arthur

Title: Death Conqueror (Increases Abyssal mana control by 20%)

Species: Skeleton Soldier

Rank: F-Rank

Level: 8

Stats:

Strength: 20

Agility: 25

Mana: 104

Stamina: 20

Defense: 16

Unassigned Stats: 10

Skills:

Evolution (Unique - Growth Type)

Survival Instinct (Rare)

Sword Mastery (Common - Level 3)

Dash (Common - Level 6)»

“Honestly, not bad. At this rate, it won't take long before I can have my revenge, but until then, I’ll be patient,” Arthur muttered, a small smirk playing on his face as he stared intently at his status window.

“Oppaaa…”

“What was that?” Arthur said, his focus snapped away by the familiar sound. Human speech... or maybe he was wrong.

The voice slowly grew louder with every footstep coming from beyond the darkness. Five of them, at the very least.

Reacting to the noise instinctively, he disappeared into the shadows behind the large stone pillar, waiting for an opportunity to ambush those who dared to enter his territory.

He raised his heavy sword above his head, calmly waiting to lunge at the enemy in an instant.

If it was a Skeleton Soldier like usual, even if there were five of them, they wouldn't even hold a candle to him. But if it was a Shadow Wolf, then they sure would give him a run for his money.

Listening carefully, he started hearing voices as the sounds slowly grew louder.

The voices belonged to five people: a Level 9 swordsman, who led the team; a Level 7 Tank; a Level 6 male swordsman; a Level 6 female Priestess; and a Level 5 Mage.

The female Priestess was hanging onto the leader’s arm and fluttering her eyelashes.

“Are you sure it will be safe down there on the 10th floor, oppa?” she asked him in an exaggeratedly saccharine voice, holding his arm with both hands. “This is the 10th floor... who knows what kind of monsters might be lurking in the shadows?”

The lead swordsman puffed out his chest and grinned arrogantly, flashing his best manly smile.

“Don’t worry, my dear. I’ll take care of everything. I am already Level 9. No monster in this dungeon would ever be able to lay its claws on you while I’m around.”

Watching and listening to them from behind the pillar, Arthur was stunned.

“10th floor?” Arthur thought to himself. “Do they really believe they are on the 10th floor of the SSS-rank Demon Lord’s dungeon? From what I can remember, didn't I die on the 999th floor after getting betrayed by my party members? How did they end up on the 10th floor?”

Arthur thought, and it began making sense why all he was seeing were low-tier monsters like Skeleton Soldiers and Shadow Wolves.

His attention shifted back to the five adventurers, who continued on their way, cautiously marching down the dark stone passage, the sound of their feet echoing loudly inside.

A little bit later, a stench of copper and rotten meat started to fill the passage. When the five turned a slight corner, they were met with a gruesome sight—a lone Shadow Wolf sitting next to the corpse of some lesser monster, devouring its body with eagerness.

“A lone wolf?” Arthur scoffed silently. Honestly, if they had any sense, they’d turn back right now. Everyone knows Shadow Wolves never travel alone. Even the loneliest wolf has the rest of the pack somewhere close by—it’s basic survival knowledge taught to every rookie adventurer.

However, the group leader did not care about such tactical considerations. He saw easy prey, as well as a great opportunity to impress the female Priestess, who clung to him in fear.

A broad smirk spread across his face.

“Watch and learn, ladies,” boasted the Level 9 swordsman, puffing out his chest proudly. “I’ll deal with this creature with one powerful slash.”

“Oh fuck,” Arthur muttered, slapping a hand over his face in sheer disappointment.

Without waiting for his Tank and the other swordsman to create a frontline, the leader gave an enthusiastic battle shout and rushed toward the wolf. He jumped up into the air, waving his shining sword over his head, ready to decapitate the creature in one perfect strike.

The Shadow Wolf raised its glowing eyes from the feast, looking at the flying idiot with contempt. It was not scared and did not try to avoid the attack. It simply growled with mockery.

Suddenly, a mass of shadow appeared from nowhere beside the wall of the passage.

Before the sword could make contact, a huge mass of blackness lashed to the side with incredible speed and ferocity.

It was not another wolf—it was an enormous alpha, twice the size of the others, opening its enormous jaws.

CRUNCH!

Its jaws closed with unbelievable power around the swordsman’s neck. Bones cracked with a sharp noise under the pressure.

The leader’s battle shout abruptly ended in a pitiful gurgle as his head was severed from his neck.

The huge beast and the decapitated body dropped heavily onto the floor. Blood splattered everywhere, quickly forming a puddle on the cold stone floor as the sword clattered uselessly.

For one second, the Priestess remained motionless, looking down at the twitching body of the man she believed to be her protector.

Over the head of the huge beast, now covered with blood, was a glowing red number:

Level 12

“Ahhhhhhh—!”