Endless Evolution as an Undead

Chapter 6: Evolution 1

The air within the cave went completely silent except for the drops of blood falling from the Alpha's sharp fangs.

A massive Level 12 Shadow Wolf stood over the decapitated body of the party leader. Its eyes burned with a deadly crimson color, its teeth glaring at the remaining party members, who stared in terror.

Before anyone could do anything, the wolf howled once more to call out to the remaining pack. Four Shadow Wolves ranging from Level 5 to 7 each lunged out from the darkness, baring their fangs at the group.

The nearest one rushed forward, ignoring the heavy Tank in its way, lunging with its jaws wide open at the Priestess. Her brain stopped working from the terror. She froze in place, unable to cast even the most elementary barrier.

Clang!

A streak of bright light fell from the sky. With lightning-fast movement and a powerful strike from his heavy greatsword, Arthur intercepted the wolf's attack and lopped off its head.

Before his brain could even process the command, his body moved on impulse. The deeply engraved hero instinct of his overrode his undead logic. With lightning-fast movement, he had already involved himself in the fight.

“Fuck! Another monster!” shouted the Tank, his voice trembling in horror.

“The monsters seem to be fighting each other! We should take our chance to flee!” the Mage yelled, pointing towards the path they had taken earlier.

Without looking at anything else, they fled down the corridor without a single look back, leaving Arthur all alone in the middle of the pack of monsters.

“Fuck! This hero instinct of mine will surely kill me at this rate,” mumbled Arthur, his eyes widening from the shock as the massive Level 12 Alpha looked directly at him. Saliva started dripping from its blood-stained jaws.

The beast didn't wait a moment longer before lunging high above him with its massive maw stretched out as it came crashing down.

Arthur jumped backward, activating [Dash].

The massive maw of the beast almost got him, slamming into the ground and pulverizing the rock.

Before Arthur managed to regain his balance, the three remaining Level 6 Shadow Wolves launched their attack simultaneously. One aimed at his legs, and the other two at his ribcage.

"Get the fuck off me!" Arthur screamed, his voice growing aggressive.

He relied on his [Sword Mastery] and instantly turned on his heels, spinning with his heavy greatsword as it swept out.

SKRKT!

The blade tore through the first leaping Shadow Beast in mid-air, cutting it in two and splattering its blood on Arthur's head.

The second beast bit his left shin with a loud crack. Arthur wobbled, losing his balance. Seizing this opportunity, the third normal wolf jumped at him, tearing his chest open and snapping two of his ribs outward, sending bone fragments flying everywhere.

“Stamina is running out,” Arthur thought, panting. “I cannot keep this up for long.”

A deep growl sounded through the walls. The leader of the pack returned.

It charged like a bull, an immense creature made of demonic mana. Arthur kicked the mob wolf off his shin, breaking his own leg in the process in order to free himself. Planting his remaining foot, he lifted the greatsword to parry.

CLANG!

The Alpha's massive paw impacted the flat part of his blade. The blow was overwhelming, throwing him backward and crashing him into a stalagmite.

Crack. His spine cracked. His left arm dangled from the dislocated socket.

The Alpha walked towards him slowly, its eyes glowing with cruelty. Letting out a short bark, it commanded its two remaining wolves to destroy the prey.

The two Level 6 beasts bolted forward at the same time, opening their maws to crush his skull.

Arthur could barely dodge and could barely even move at this point. He gripped the hilt of his greatsword tightly with his good arm. He stared at the beasts with intensity, and as the first beast leaped, he stuck his left arm straight into its maw. The beast bit down, instantly pulverizing his forearm. Grabbing the shortsword with his teeth, Arthur plunged it straight through the beast's neck, impaling it completely.

Without giving it a chance, he ripped the blade out of the monster's neck, then flung it towards the second wolf's neck as it was just about to reach him.

Both corpses fell on the floor at the same time.

Instantly, a wave of warmth rushed through Arthur's weakening core.

«[System Notification]

* Level Up!

* Congratulations on reaching Level 9.»

The golden rule of the system appeared to be his divine salvation. A blinding surge of demonic mana flashed through his marrow. His crushed limbs healed instantly. His ribs fused together in an instant. His severed left arm grew from nothing, bone stitching itself to the rest of his body.

All fatigue disappeared.

Arthur did not even look at the screen. “System, put all points into agility and strength,” he said, dodging a claw strike from the monster.

«[Agility: 25 ➔ 30]

[Strength: 20 ➔ 25]»

The beast tried to attack him again, but Arthur was now faster than earlier thanks to the added points.

Activating [Dash], he sidestepped the beast, which crashed into the rock he had just been standing next to, shattering it to pieces.

"It's my turn now," Arthur hissed.

The beast turned around towards him as it rushed in once again, lunging with its jaws open widely. Arthur ducked completely under it, scraping the floor with his knees. Using his boosted Strength, he delivered a powerful uppercut.

CRUNCH!

The heavy iron blade of his greatsword slammed into the beast's lower jaw, shattering its teeth and throwing its head backward. The beast howled in pain, stumbling.

Arthur jumped into the air and spun his body. Gripping the greatsword with both hands, he slashed down with it, landing in between the beast's shoulder blades.

The blade sliced through the muscles, broke the beast's spine, and pierced through its body.

Silence enveloped the cave, except for the beast's blood dripping from Arthur's blade.

Looking down at the corpse of the beast, he ripped the sword from its body. A massive wave of the beast's demonic mana filled his body with suffocating blue light.

«[System Notification]

* Abyssal aura absorbed.

* Evolution progress: 97%»

Only three percent remained... Arthur thought to himself, panting hard.

From the corner of his eye, he noticed some movement. The last living Shadow Wolf from the pack, having been terrified by the slaughter of its leader, tucked its tail and fled down the corridor.

Without thinking for a second, Arthur pulled his shortsword from his belt and threw it at the wolf like a javelin, straight into the darkness it had run towards.

Thwack!

The dull thud resounded from the darkness. But before he could see whether the shortsword had hit its target or not, pure exhaustion made him fall.

Arthur's legs gave out under him. He collapsed onto the floor, completely exhausted and out of breath.

Soft and measured footsteps resounded from the stone corridor.

Slowly, as if waiting in the shadows for exactly this moment, the four remaining adventurers crawled back into the chamber.

At the head of the group was the Priestess. She wasn't the cowering, trembling girl who had cried with fear not long ago. Curled around her face was a cold smile as she moved lightly over the corpses of the dead monsters and approached the nearly dead Skeleton Soldier.

She knew that this undead, capable of using language, complex skills, and hoarding rare treasure, was definitely unusual.

She knelt next to Arthur's still body and offered him a kind smile.

In a brief, pathetic moment, Arthur felt warmth inside him.

A human... coming to help?

But then the smile of the Priestess changed to a sharp and cruel one. Without a single warning, she pulled out her crystal dagger with a razor-sharp blade and slowly plunged it into his mana core between his ribs.

“I can only guess what a monster like this will drop,” she whispered, her eyes burning with greed. “Perhaps an Epic or Unique-grade drop, or even a Legendary one, isn't completely impossible.”

The world around Arthur went red.

«[System Alert]

* Warning: Health dropped to 1%.»

As the life drained away from his core, two rapid and unexpected notifications exploded into Arthur's field of view from the dark corridor where he had thrown his shortsword:

«* User has killed a Level 6 Shadow Wolf.

* XP Acquired.

* User has leveled up!

* Level: 10

* Demonic Mana absorbed.

* Requirements met: Beginning Evolution.»