The Ultimate Evolution

The combination of a lion zombie and the Nigerian Golden Mask may sound absurd, but for some reason, it gave off the feel of a Sphinx. One was a relic of the ancient Nigerian civilization while the other was a relic of the ancient Babylonian civilization, but they had actually combined together.

(TL: That’s right, Babylon had Sphinxes too. Bet you didn’t know that did you?)

But this was actually nothing to be surprised about. Historical studies had shown that there exists many similarities and coincidences in mythologies even between completely unrelated Eastern and Western ancient civilizations, such as an ancient great flood or the creation of mankind from clay.

The Sphinx was merely a similarity in the two ancient civilizations. There was nothing strange about a coincidence like this.

Sheyan stared at the mysterious and powerful lion in front of him. He decided to try and end the fight quickly. The monster looked rather tough to deal with, but it should pose no fatal threat to Sheyan.

The only thing he feared was Bind’s consciousness quietly sneaking over to cause trouble for him again! The unexpected attacks were the most lethal!

The rest of Party Ace started getting busy too because some of the people in the building had finally discovered the group of uninvited visitors. They ran here one after another armed with guns. Sheyan had noticed by now that a spherical layer of earthy yellow light had formed with the mask at the centre, covering an area hundreds of square metres around it. It was this barrier-like layer that had separated himself and the Sphinx with the outside world.

At that moment, Zi’s voice transmitted over from the party communication channel, carrying words that reassured Sheyan.

“Hey, Seaman, I don’t sense the consciousness of Bind. That guy should not be able to follow our whereabouts in the midst of his rage. And I’ve already familiarised myself with the way he attacks, so if he’s really around waiting to ambush, I’ll definitely be able to find traces of him. Also, I’ve discovered a key weakness in this barrier. Work with me to destroy it from the inside.”

A ray of light shot out from Zi’s finger and quickly coalesced into the form of a needle. It drilled fiercely into the spherical light barrier from the side! Large ripples spread from the spot where the barrier was pierced. Sheyan also punched the same spot hard from the inside.

Under attacks from both the inside and the outside, the protective barrier instantly shattered into yellowish fragments that slowly rained down all around them.

The Sphinx growled in anger. The fur on its body that had dried up from the loss of vitality suddenly surged like grassland weeds that waved about wildly in the midst of a gale. A sound wave indiscriminately attacked everything around it, be it living or inanimate.

Fortunately, Old Charlie never placed himself in danger, or this attack would have been a huge problem for him.

Even Sheyan found himself in a terrible state in the midst of the terrifying sonic wave. He felt like a tiny boat in the middle of a typhoon. He could only grab at something next to him in a hurry to stop himself from being blown away. As for the office, it was completely ruined. It looked as if it had been thrown into a huge blender.

Flower pots, books, sofas, benches, underwear, curtains and suits that had previously remained hidden from sight stirred and blended together in the storm! The tempered glass curtain wall to the side completely shattered, the fragments flying everywhere! It would take a couple tons of TNT explosives to produce such a dramatic effect!

Of course, the most unfortunate ones were the guards who were surrounding the area. They all stood rooted to the spot after the sonic wave swept past them. After a long time, painful looks crept onto their faces. Their heads then burst into horrible masses of bloody pieces. Only then did the headless corpses slowly fall to the ground, twitching ceaselessly. Blood oozed non-stop out of the cross-section on their necks.

The Sphinx pounced at Sheyan. Several cracks were made in the ceiling when it spread its wings. It swept its front paw at Sheyan. Sheyan clenched his fist and punched out with the black-and-red striped +10 glove. The paw met with the fist.

A deafening sonic boom erupted in the air. The impact sent Sheyan rolling several meters back due to the difference in body weight. The other paw of the Sphinx instantly slammed down towards him.

Sheyan once again launched a fist to meet it directly. At the moment of contact, there was a sudden flash of extremely dazzling light, so intense it seemed to be born out of extreme darkness. Even a slight glimpse of it would make one’s eyes burn!

The Sphinx cried out painfully and staggered a few steps back. The paw that came into contact with Sheyan’s fist was now covered with cracks like a broken piece of porcelain. Then, it broke into pieces, which turned into dust before they even reached the ground.

‘Extinction’!!

That was the word which reverberated through the minds of the other members of Party Ace at that moment. There was nothing to prove it, but what other ability could produce such a fierce strike and such a brutal injury? The attack had resulted in one of the Sphinx’s four limbs becoming completely crippled!

An invisible force field erupted from the Sphinx, making Sheyan feel as if he was standing in a full-blown sandstorm. He could not even open his eyes, let alone stabilise his body.

Seizing this opportunity, the Sphinx thrust its wounded foot into the opening in the wall. The mask flashed, and when the Sphinx pulled its foot out again, it was intact once more. The injury seemed to have completely healed. But soon, the lightning-like light on it flickered, and the foot was reduced to dust again.

That’s where the power of ‘Extinction’ was so formidable. A treatment may be temporarily effective, but 0.01 seconds after it took effect, the remnant power of ‘Extinction’ would once again reproduce the wound, negating any attempt to heal the injury. This special effect of ‘Extinction’ was way more evil than telling the victim straight-up that the injury could not be cured.

If the victim had received a notification showing that the injury could not be treated, they would have just accepted the fact right away. But due to the lack of a notification, they would repeatedly try to heal their wound and be repeatedly disappointed. It was like a person who suffered a serious cut, having recovered from the injury after much difficulty, being slashed in the same spot again. Think of the psychological trauma, the medical expenses, the youth lost….

The Sphinx glared furiously at the culprit who caused him so much pain. It charged at Sheyan again. But this time, it was smarter, having learnt its lesson. It sent broken concrete pieces splashing towards Sheyan while it ran. Sheyan tried to dodge as best he could, but he was still hit a few times. In addition, in this narrow space, the power of the Sphinx was comparable to the madness of a sandstorm. While Sheyan was avoiding the concrete pieces, he naturally could not pay full attention to the Sphinx’s claws. He was struck by the claws and was sent flying outside!

Yes, outside….

Outside the seventeenth floor!

Fortunately, before they came here, Sheyan had already considered the possibility that they might have to jump down from the building. While he was falling down like a projectile, he suddenly rolled around in the air and pushed opened a large umbrella.

It was not a single-person umbrella or even a double-person umbrella; it was a large-sized beach umbrella. It could shelter eight people under it without a problem. The umbrella’s pole was also made of steel. If the owner of the fruit stall next to the hotel they stayed in was here, he would surely find the umbrella looking very familiar….

Sheyan was momentarily thrown upwards with great force by the air resistance right after pushing the umbrella open. He couldn’t help but add a little strength to his grip, crumpling the steel umbrella handle as a result. If he were an ordinary person, gripping so hard would surely result in his wrist being sprained.

The stolen umbrella carried out its mission steadily. Suddenly, the Sphinx broke through the sky-blue glass curtain wall next to it with a deafening crash and also fell down in pursuit. Countless shiny fragments rained down on the ordinary people who were watching curiously below. Some of them screamed in pain, and some of them fainted.

The ferocious beast produced a fierce storm in the air as it flew. It snapped at Sheyan repeatedly, causing him several injuries, then landed before Sheyan could and opened its mouth wide!

The wide-open mouth seemed like a black hole, deep and dark. There seemed to be sounds of countless scarabs bursting inside it. Then, a strong wind rose and turned into a spiraling tornado, blowing Sheyan up again!

Sheyan climbed in altitude almost as fast as an elevator. The glass curtain wall of the building flashed past behind him at an astonishing speed, like he was on a roller coaster. Sheyan started to feel nervous. Finally, when he reached a height of two or three hundred meters in the air, the wind finally weakened. Sheyan fell back down.

But the beach umbrella was now damaged. It did not even last ten seconds under the tremendous pressure from Sheyan’s fall before it completely broke down. However, it had completed its mission; it had effectively and reliably cushioned Sheyan’s falling force.

Seeing the ground approaching him at a great speed, Sheyan immediately activated the ability on his newly-obtained wrist guards: ‘Absolute Run’! He extended his feet towards the glass curtain wall next to him.

When his feet made contact, Sheyan bizarrely regained his balance in the air. But right at that moment, he suddenly heard a crashing sound. His astounding momentum had continued pushing him forward, making him glide more than 20 meters on the tempered glass curtain wall of the building like he was surfing, and leaving behind trails of bruises in the glass in his wake!