Endless Evolution As A Skeleton In A Game-Like World

[Harvest successful! You have successfully received A-Rank skill, White Disaster!]

Ark left North to suffer the pain of the demonic beast he had used on Thalia, staring at him coldly as he writhed on the ground.

His eyes swept through the room, only to find out that his summons had dealt with the other agents.

In a normal scenario, it would have been impossible for them. The agents were all bronze level players after all...

But the association had been arrogant enough to attack them in Olivia’s hotel room. So right from the beginning, there had been a massive 30% debuff on their abilities.

Adding that to the debuff placed upon them

By Emperor’s Domination, and the petrifying fear that his domain unleashed on them, it was no wonder that they were wiped out...

_

Sumo has leveled up!

Level 6 >>> Level 8

Jenna has leveled up!

Level 8 >>> Level 9

Inquisitor has leveled up!

Level 9 >>> Level 10

Mountain has leveled up!

Level 7 >>> Level 8

Ark did not bother reading the notification, he already knew what they were.

He was about to walk towards where Thalia and Olivia were, when another screen suddenly appeared in front of him.

[Your summon has now reached level 10. You can now activate the elemental gacha to decide on his element!]

’Element gacha?’ Ark mused as he stared at the screen. He was confused at first, elemental manipulation was something associated with battle mages.

Olivia for example while being a melee fighter could call upon lightning as she wished.

His summons on the other hand were not battle mages. Only Jenna even had a magic related class among them...

’Why would my undead have anything to do with an element—?’

It was then the realization hit him. Back in the tutorial, before his skill evolved to Endless Soul Reaper, he had merged an elemental summoning skill with his undead summoning!

’How could I forget?!’

There was no telling what would become of a skill after a skill merger. Some would obtain minor changes, while others would be transformed at a foundational level...

’I guess this was one of the ways elemental summon was incorporated into the skill..’

Ark decided to look into it at a later time. Right now, there was something more important to look into.

”How is she doing?” Ark asked as he knelt beside Thalia.

Olivia smiled. ”Whatever they did to her seems to have worn off...” she said with relief in her voice. ”She’s healing...”

She had placed a cloth from her inventory to cover her burned clothes, but Ark could see much of her skin. Her burned skin and flesh was slowly recovering, and the hole in her chest had likely closed half-way.

With the help of the healing potions, and the room’s healing effect, her regeneration had gotten much faster.

Ark watched as all her wounds sealed, her skin and body appearing so smooth that it was as though she had never been attacked in the first place...

She was still unconscious, and would likely be for quite some time. But Ark felt relief.

’I was able to get here on time.’

After speaking with Tristan, he had sprinted here as fast as he possibly could, using dirt drifter and steel webs to increase his speed.

He had thought all he would meet was Thalia’s body, with Olivia weeping over it.

But he had been wrong. Olivia had managed to stand her ground...

He breathed out, staring up. The ceiling was gone, so he could see the shimmering stars up above his head, and feel the cold wind that graced them from above.

Step—

But that serene atmosphere seemed to vanish all at once.

Olivia froze still as she stared at something behind him, her hands trembling as fear corroded her mind.

”A—A—R—!”

She opened her mouth to speak, but her words came out distorted. She gritted her teeth, lightning sparking all over her body as she tried to unleash her strength, but it was futile.

Barely ten seconds later, her eyes rolled to the back of her head, and she fell atop Thalia, unconscious.

Ark on the other hand could feel a light prickly sensation. It was the same one he had felt some time ago, the killing intent of the vice commander of the Player’s Association.

Tristan’s killing intent.

He arranged Olivia’s head so that she would not have a neck pain when she woke up, before slowly rising to his feet, his back turned on the phantom assassin.

”It looks like I underestimated you lot.” Tristan’s voice came out with childish amusement.

He wore a pristine black suit and tie, as though he had come out for a business meeting rather than an assasdination.

His hands were clasped around his back as he stared around. And then he smiled. ”To think you would beat some of our most talented young agents...”

”...”

”Kehhh—!!”

North grabbed his foot, coughing profusely.

The veins on his forehead were pulsing, his skin had turned red and his eyes were bulging out of his skull.

Tristan sighed and picked him up from the floor as though he weighed less than a feather.

”How heartless. Do you know how much pain this demonic beast can cause? A little more time and he would have been driven to the brink of madness.”

Tristan smiled as he plunged his hand into his abdomen and ripped out the worm, causing blood to splatter out of his flesh.

”You know...” He shook his head. ”I always warned him about his arrogance.”

He crushed the worm in his hand, just before tossing North out of what used to be the window.

North screamed at the top of his voice, flailing around in the wind, just before his body exploded at the bottom of the building.

Tristan’s voice grew colder, his eyes gleaming softly as he stared at Ark. ”...But kids these days never listen to adults.”

Only then did Ark turn around, his blue eyes turning a fiery shade as he stared at Tristan.

Throughout his short time in Eden, and even the hell he had experienced in the tutorial, he had never faced anything that came even close to Tristan.

This was not even a fight he could imagine winning...

But—

This was not a fight he could back away from either.

Tristan raised a brow.

”Arrogance is good. You need a certain degree of arrogance if you wish to survive in this world.”

There was a rare frown on his face.

”But even you must know when you have crossed the line.” His voice was bitter with rage, and each sentence rolled out with corrosive killing intent.

”Tell me, Ark.” He smiled and cocked his head to the side. ”What do you intend to do... with that toy?”

VWOOOOSH!

The Emperor’s Domain flared, the shadows in the room swirling impatiently. Sumo, Mountain and Inquisitor immediately appeared beside him, while he summoned Jenna at the back.

The air crackled with tension and sparks as Ark summoned chain lightning on his other hand, igniting the space.

”Why don’t you come a little closer.” Ark spat. ”I’ll be more than happy to show you.”

Tristan stared at him for a long second, before unclasping his hands from his back and saying in an amused tone;

”You think you command the shadows. But you will come to know—”

”That the darkness... is far vaster than you can ever imagine...”

Just as the words left his lips, Ark’s vision fled him. The bright sparks of the lightning vanished, the gleam of the leftover flames fizzled out, even the light from the stars was gone.

All around him, all he could see was thick darkness that was impossible to shake off.

It was not that he had gone blind. The light around him was simply not permitted to exist.

A cold voice slipped into his ears, causing a chill to run down his spine.

”Kid, do you know why they call me the Phantom Assassin?”