Endless Evolution as an Undead

Chapter 7: Evolution 2

«[System Alert]

* All conditions have been met. Beginning evolution.»

Immediately, a torrent of dark energy emerged from Arthur’s body, twisting into a swirling maelstrom of demonic fire.

The frightening burst of energy startled the other adventurers completely. The priestess screamed, pulling her hands away and staggering backward immediately while leaving the jagged dagger in place inside Arthur’s mana core.

The rest of the party members, which included the tank, the mage, and the surviving swordsman, moved in closer due to the strange light.

“What the hell happened?!” the priestess shrieked, her face going pale and her hands shaking continuously. “Isn’t he already dead or something? Didn’t his HP reach zero not long ago?! He should have just turned to a pile of bones like usual. What's with the show?”

Before any of them could even think about what was going on, Arthur’s consciousness was transported out of his body.

He opened his eyes and found himself in an infinite, pitch-black space. There was a huge message floating right before his eyes.

«[Evolution in progress. Choose your first evolution path.]»

There were two possible paths under the text:

* Skeleton Warrior: Increases combat skill and physical attack damage. Unlocks the user’s ability to utilize and control mana.

* Skeleton Commander: Increases intelligence. Low-level skeletons will fear and obey you. Gives you the ability to create a skeleton army.

Looking at these two options, Arthur started thinking.

“While the second path seems attractive, I have to consider my options. While creating an army sounds impressive in theory, it won’t make me stronger. This just means that my strength will come from the weaknesses of my subordinates.”

Arthur examined the first option.

“Moreover, by choosing the warrior path, I will finally be able to put my massive mana pool to actual use.”

Without losing any more time, Arthur lifted his hand and selected the first option.

Right after doing so, the massive amount of demonic mana that had been collected inside him exploded. Torrents of pure demonic energy flooded Arthur’s body.

His fragile bony structure began transforming in a frightening but beautiful manner. His gray and hollow bones expanded, absorbing the dark energy, becoming a dark, obsidian-like iron color, and acquiring additional skeletal density.

At the same time, Arthur received a system message:

«[Evolution complete.]

* 100 unassigned stat points received.»

Without any delay, Arthur used the unassigned stat points to improve his foundations, focusing on improving his neglected stats and his magic abilities:

«[Strength: Increased by 25]

[Agility: Increased by 25]

[Stamina: Increased by 25]

[Mana: Heavily boosted by 250 (For every 1 stat added to mana, it increases by 10.)]»

[New quest: An eye for an eye.

Requirement: Kill the one who nearly killed you.

Difficulty: F rank

Reward: Experience points.]

Meanwhile, in the physical space of the cave, the maelstrom of demonic energy suddenly imploded into a dense dark smoke that covered everywhere.

Before the black smoke even had a chance to dissipate, a quick movement burst through it. Arthur didn’t hesitate or delay—he burst out of the darkness without waiting a second.

Schwing!

A clean, blinding horizontal strike caught the male swordsman completely off guard, severing his head. The head spun wildly through the air and fell to the ground, creating a puddle of blood there.

The rest of the adventurers remained shocked. Their faces contorted in fear, confusion, and disbelief.

Gently, towering in his new, obsidian-like skeletal body, Arthur reached down to his ribs and carefully removed the jagged dagger from his mana core. He enhanced the strength and speed of the dagger, then flung it toward the priestess like a missile.

Thud!

The crystal dagger hit the priestess in the shoulder with such momentum that she was literally lifted off the ground and pinned against the wall. She screamed from the shock.

Arthur flexed his reinforced skeletal neck, making a dry, clicking sound. He looked at the adventurers with his empty, burning red eye sockets.

“I will get back to you later…” Arthur spat bitterly, turning his gaze away from the priestess, his voice deep, powerful, and full of anger. “As I expected from humans. Greedy, ruthless, completely unworthy of any affection and kindness. Why the hell did I even think otherwise?”

Arthur shook his head, filled with dark rage.

“They butcher their own kind because of their greed... What did I even expect them to do if they saw a unique monster? I was blind.”

Arthur lifted his reinforced palm, pressing it against his forehead as if trying to erase his past naïveté.

“Being betrayed once was normal—shame on you. But being betrayed twice by the same weak race? Yes. Fuck it.”

Arthur gripped the hilt of his sword with both hands, circulating his mana around it.

“Fuck…” the tank echoed, “how is a lowly monster like him using sword aura?”

When the shock wore off, their primordial instincts of survival kicked in.

“Attack him together!” the tank shouted, his face white with fear.

The tank rushed forward, putting his heavy steel tower shield in front of him and trying to block Arthur’s strike. At the same time, he waved his warhammer in his free hand, trying to urge the mage to attack.

“He’s just one fucking skeleton warrior! There are more of us than him—we can kill him!” the tank shouted, trying to raise their morale.

As the tank got closer, he planted himself in anticipation of the strike—then he stopped.

The tank’s eyes widened in fear when he realized how dense Arthur’s new skeleton body was, how frightening and suffocating the obsidian-like bone structure of his body was.

“Wait… a skeleton warrior? Weren’t you a freaking skeleton soldie—”

Before the tank managed to complete his sentence, Arthur’s greatsword slashed in a horrifying arc.

The heavy, mana-infused blade cut through the air in a powerful strike. It didn’t just parry the tank’s heavy steel tower shield—it cut through the center as if it were made of paper, slicing through the tank’s armor and body.

CRACK-SPLIT.

In one movement, the tank and his heavy iron shield were split in half in a huge spray of blood and metal.

As the remaining party members watched their strongest fighter die in a single strike, pure despair set in.

"I almost felt generous enough to let you guys run," Arthur murmured, his red eyes burning through the shadows. "Almost. But you chose this.”