Novel Full Chapter 139: No Escape
Unaware of Seraphine’s thoughts, Evan continued looking through the advancements of his two clones.
Shadow had already given him quite a few surprises, but what he really wanted to see was how exactly his [Call of the Dead] ability had changed.
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[Call of Cats]
Rank: C
Description: This ability allows the user to sacrifice creatures of a certain strength to summon Creatures of Death of equal power to serve their will.
As the ability’s rank increases, the user gains the capacity to Elevate certain lower-ranked subordinates into higher-ranked ones. This threshold grows alongside the ability’s rank.
[Summons]:
> F-Rank: 10/100
> E-Rank: 3/10
> D-Rank: 0/3
> C-Rank: 0/1
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’A small army indeed,’ Evan thought as he looked at the new number of subordinates Shadow could command.
Even with the previous numbers, he’d already had a fairly significant edge while hunting, especially against stronger enemies. Now that the count had grown so drastically, along with the strength of the subordinates Shadow could summon, he could already picture his clone hunting down B-ranks without breaking much of a sweat.
’Tch... comparison really is the thief of joy.’
That said, Evan couldn’t help but notice that this time, the ability had reserved a slot for a C-rank subordinate as well, which was strange considering that the previous two times, the subordinates had always been of a rank lower than Shadow’s own.
Evan wondered if this too was part of the change Shadow had undergone. After all, he hadn’t just risen in rank, he’d advanced to a new phase within his species, going from Grave Warrior to Soul Reaper. Evan had already noted that these seemed to function as actual evolutionary stages, meaning the very nature of the being changed along with them. The addition of Soul Points was a perfect example of that.
But however significant the change, there wasn’t much point dwelling on it. At the end of the day, it was a beneficial change for his clone, in other words, a beneficial change for him.
Evan finally set aside Shadow’s status screen and turned his attention to his other clone beside him, who had also finished evolving.
"You’re really turning into some kind of living demon," he muttered, taking in how the second clone’s already unsettling appearance had grown even more demonic.
His tall, slender figure had grown even taller and leaner. Nothing remained that resembled clothing anymore, now it was more like a thin outer layer of skin that looked almost like light armor, yet still traced the outline of the muscles beneath it, across his chest and arms.
His arms had grown slightly longer, ending in claws. The two pairs of horns on his head seemed to have fused together, leaving just a single pair jutting from his forehead, curving backward, long, and gently curved upward at the tips.
And finally, his face. It no longer had any defined features like before, mostly cast in shadow, with only a pair of white eyes, or perhaps slits would be the better word, visible within the darkness.
If Evan ever summoned this clone in public after returning from the dimensional hunt, there would probably be a full-scale armed crusade against the poor guy.
All of that, however, was secondary compared to the newest addition to his body.
’Wings?’
While Evan amused himself checking out his clones’ new strength, someone else, deep in the forest at the center of NY, didn’t have the luxury of doing the same.
Among the branches of the towering trees, a figure could be seen darting swiftly, leaping from branch to branch, switching trees constantly, all in a desperate attempt to lose whoever was chasing her.
"You know, I never get tired of watching those desperate little expressions while you run, as if there’s actually some chance of escaping me" a voice echoed, not too far behind her, and moments later another figure came into view.
It was Adrian, now about fifty meters behind her, though judging by his pace, it was clear he wasn’t putting in his full effort. He was enjoying the hunt.
The girl in question was, of course, Lirien, doing everything in her power to shake the man off.
Just half an hour ago, she’d finally managed to fall asleep, her mind quiet enough at last to steal a bit of peace, only to be jolted awake by the instructor.
She’d been confused about why he’d woken her out of nowhere, even more so when he told her to stay alert for possible danger and to be ready to flee alongside Percival if anything went wrong. She’d tried to ask what he meant, but the instructor said nothing more and left.
Still half-confused about what to do, she soon saw Percival wake up as well.
She wasn’t sure whether he had already been awake and had merely been pretending to sleep, or whether something had startled him awake, but he looked visibly alarmed.
For some reason, the sight filled her with a bad feeling.
Percival, just like the instructor before him, headed toward the enormous stem of the flower and disappeared into what looked like some kind of entrance.
She wanted to go check, to see for herself what was going on, but the instructor’s words kept echoing in her head.
In the end, after a moment of hesitation, she decided to go check anyway. But just as she reached the entrance, she heard strange sounds of fighting, followed by a scream, it sounded like the instructor. He was shouting something at someone, the words unclear, but she managed to catch a fragment of it.
’Deceived? We’ll all die?’
A chill ran down her spine, and right at that moment, she heard footsteps echoing from inside.
Panic seizing her, she pulled back as fast as she could, hiding in the nearby bushes.
Not long after, she saw Percival burst out, panicked, searching for something... or someone.
He looked frustrated, muttering something under his breath, but she was too focused on staying hidden to make out his words.
It wasn’t long before another figure appeared behind him. Adrian.
That was when she caught the tail end of his conversation with Percival, enough to piece together some idea of what had happened down there.
She was furious, certain that Percival had something to do with whatever had happened to the instructor, but she knew there was nothing she could do, she was in no position to face that man. All she could do was stay hidden.
The frustration of being utterly powerless to help drove a flicker of murderous intent toward the two distant figures, barely a whisper of killing intent, almost nonexistent.
Yet...
It was enough to alert Adrian.
He immediately seemed to have found her.