Demon King

[He ate him.]

[The living ate the dead…]

The air changed utterly. The dead that surrounded me noticed my actions. It means that from now on, I could eat them.

I sliced off a zombie’s torso with my blade and slid it into my mouth.

Predation completely grasped all the energy by using Detection. I used the stamina gained through Predation with Regeneration. Gradually, it turned the death essence back into life energy.

By absorbing death energy and altering it, it was possible to incorporate the mana of the undead.

[Advanced Detection has become Lv7!]

My stamina and magic rose; there’s no such thing as fatigue by using Regeneration. They are all my food, even the strongest ghoul in the intermediate level, easy pickings!

[If I’m eaten, I’ll die!]

[Avoid him or you’ll disappear!]

[You said you want to eat him, so he’s all yours!]

The surrounding undead ran away. It was an unfamiliar sight I rarely ever see in the Black Palace. Is it because you now remember the fear of death? Well…

“I know the feeling.”

I don’t know why A summoned this number of undead, but I have only one choice. As long as I know that they are my enemies and haven’t cleared the second floor, I must kill them all.

“I will enjoy this food…” I prayed as I rushed to my dinner.

[Predation has become Lv5! Skills gained from Predation will grow faster. If the target’s skill proficiency is high, skills acquired will start at a high level!]

[Conquer the 2nd floor of Jinma’s Tower 1/1]

Both Predation’s growth and the clearing of Jinma’s Tower’s notification windows appeared simultaneously.

“This is the last one…” I muttered, chewing a ghoul’s flesh in my mouth.

The taste was a little odd, it was like fruit and grilled meat that was close to rotting, It was strangely addictive, but apparently, it was completely rotten. So I really didn’t want to eat more than this.

At that moment, the walls that were erected went down all at once. Despite having a long, arduous battle, the arena was so clean. Because everything was inside my stomach.

[Quest Completed!]

[You gained 7,850,000 experience!]

[You acquired 1,000 gold!]

[You’ve leveled up!]

[You acquired 5 advanced magic potions!]

[You acquired 5 super sticky sticks!]

[Evolution is possible!]

As I watched the series of notifications, I clenched my fists. Inside me was a joy that stemmed from the depths of my heart. I did it. I felt like I was going to die, but I did it. I got stronger. I proved my qualifications to become stronger. I was happy that I did it by myself without relying on anyone or anything else.

A appeared, but this time, I sensed him before I could show himself. Detection had gone up to Advanced Lv7 and also because I changed the fundamentals of how I use my skills.

“That was quick.”

“It was?”

He could have been complimenting me, but I was being weird and had to ask.

“You’re fast. Even if you thought the wrong way initially and spend the time dying a lot.”

Strictly speaking, I wasn’t dying on purpose. I died a lot to learn some things. But what did he do while I was clearing the floor? It must have been a long time.

“What is this energy you spoke of?”

“Mana, life, and death. Are you talking about those?”

“Are they different?”

“You saw what I did.”

It may be impossible to comprehend the energy around me. But I could figure out the ones inside me.

It’s also unfamiliar to miss the energy when recognized. Now that I’ve eaten over a thousand undead, I could divide all my strength to my stamina, magic, life, and death.

It would be impossible to explain what energy is, but I could.

I was thinking of ignoring A for asking such a trivial thing and start evolving. Before I could, A spoke with an expressionless, yet oddly absurd face.

“Fate.”

“What?”

“You’re wrong.”

“What do you mean?”

He delivered to me shocking news with a calm voice.

“Your Predation… You should have been still stuck on the second floor until you reached level 7.”

Predation had to be level 7? And I reached level 5 a while ago? It was ridiculous.

“Are you serious?” A thought came to mind, but I didn’t want to ask. “Are you telling me that you’ll be able to eat death energy after it gets to level 7?”

“Yes.”

I understood what he meant.

So A, without realizing the concept of energy, didn’t attempt to change it into life energy. He just knew that I will die, again and again, trying to level it up.

I hated thinking about how long that would take. Just being through that pain while maintaining an absurd amount of patience was just terrible. If you think about it if the ordeal on the first floor had gone a little longer, wouldn’t I have taken a long time in it?

Suddenly realizing it, I glared at A.

The Garden of Nak wasn’t that difficult even though it tested me just like Jinma’s Tower. At least in the Garden, it didn’t seem impossible, unlike the Tower. Was it really designed like this?

No, I was convinced that the difficulty was related to this man in front of me.

“You know, after thinking about it, you hate me!”

“You are correct. Fate, the only thing I like about you is that you’re a pervert.”

He furrowed his brows as if he remembered some bad memories, probably about L.

I was going to say A was quite a pervert himself, but I shouldn’t know it. But someday, I’ll be stronger than the guy and kick his shins!

“Even so, I am cooperating with you.”

A’s words continued. It was unlike him to mince words with me.

“Because there are people that I hate more than you.”

“Huh…”

“So be strong, Fate. Surprise me if you can.”

His words were serious, but his last words sounded so unlike him, I had to stop myself from laughing. This person is surprised at my growth. This person who looked like his face was glued to stone or something!

I left Jinma’s Tower and returned to the fourth floor of the Black Palace. Detection conveyed all the information around me without me activating it.

There were no monsters around the immediate area. It seemed that Lee Chan-yu is fighting two monsters farther in alongside his three hellhounds. I believe he’s going to win without any problem.

It might have been better to evolve back at Jinma’s Tower, but A kicked me out because I let out my laughter. I tried to tell him I didn’t want to evolve here because I could get attacked at any moment, but he was pissed off.

Either way, I couldn’t wait any longer. I brought up every notification window related to my evolution.

Ever since I became a bugbear, I had the confidence that I improved all my skills to a greater extent than ever before.

Is it just the skills, though? I realized a lot more about my body and soul and even got used to the concept of energy. The reward for clearing the second floor of Jinma’s Tower was by no means light.

When I became a Hobgoblin Assaulter, the expectation that I might evolve into an even better, stronger, superior species filled my head.

[Please choose a race to evolve to:]

[1. Bugbear Assassin]

[2. Bugbear Berserker]

[3. Bugbear Predator]

[Special Evolution is possible!]

[Special Evolution becomes possible when a specific skill, artifact, race, etc. condition is met! It is accompanied by more radical changes than any other evolution and shakes the lineage of species! The change may not necessarily be good on some basis. Moreover, before finishing the evolution, you may never know what form you will take!]

[Individuals offered with Special Evolution will have magnanimous possibilities. If they survive for a long time, they may even reach the top, so think carefully!]

[Would you like to initiate Special Evolution?]

This was unexpected.

Special evolution. Could the possibilities of evolution be any larger? Even though I did my best at every moment, only now have I encountered it. It is said that this is a once in a blue moon situation.

I had so many theories as to why I got this Special Evolution, but I couldn’t make a reasonable conclusion. Either way, I had to choose it now.

Isn’t the window telling me a bit too much? Rather than evolving as a better kind of bugbear, choosing special evolution seemed to be a way to become much stronger in the long run!

Also, it was said that Special Evolution takes notes of my skills, artifacts, and race to see if I qualify. The special evolution is the culmination of all the paths and choices I’ve taken.

If so, there’s nothing to fear.

I looked at some information about Bugbear Assassin and Predator, but it was just alright.

I checked around if it was safe before choosing Special Evolution.

“Aaaaahhhhhhhhh!!”

I believed I could endure it without screaming, but I was wrong. Not so long ago, I had experienced different kinds of pain. That included my heart bursting in Jinma’s Tower, eating my own arm, and turning into the undead. The pain from this evolution was unlike any other.

The Ebon Heart beat wildly as if it would burst again. The blood throughout my whole body seemed to boil and evaporate.

Compression began.

Thinner.

Lighter.

Faster.

Darker.

My bones crushed and merged repeatedly. My muscles burst, and some became mana and disappeared. In their place, new muscles formed, more compact than before. Every single cell within me was undergoing a violent mutation.

I was belittled to the genealogy of a goblin. From goblin to a hobgoblin, from hobgoblin to bugbear, and eventually into monsters of the same lineage. But Special Evolution was different from that.

Literally, everything was changing. It created new possibilities that I never should have. And gradually, it changed my appearance in full force.

“Oh ah ah ah ah!”

[Advanced Regeneration has become Lv5!] Only

[Advanced Immunity is now Lv4!]

It was so painful. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that kind of pain.

But I certainly had the expectation that great suffering would bring about great fortune. That helped me overcome the pain. It transformed crippling pain into euphoria.

When the pain stopped, I opened my eyes and face the Werewolf Beast Commander with his claws pointed at me.

I know him very well. And he was taller than me now.

“You… who are you?” Lee Chan-yu asked with tension in his voice.

Shortly after, a small notification window appeared.

[Congratulations! You have evolved into a Crimson Elf!]