The Glorious Evolution

Idriss recalled Levi’s messages asking him to keep updating his location so he could send a mercenary squad to rescue him.

He knew how unlikely that was... finding mercenaries capable of confronting these three and bringing them here on such short notice?

Even the Academy’s reinforcements couldn’t reach him in time.

Still, he kept sending the updates, hoping to give them something to hold on to... especially Shia, who must have been waiting for any news about him.

But now, seeing Levi descending toward the forest, he finally understood why the boy insisted on knowing his position.

He intended to come himself!

And judging by those enormous ink meteors, Jasmine accompanied him!

Instead of relief, Idriss felt dread rising within him... he knew how strong the two had become, but after experiencing the Hound’s strength firsthand, he couldn’t imagine them winning against him and his companions.

Even if they managed to hold off Fang and Rain, what were they supposed to do about the Hound?!

He had been about to end his own life to keep his family and friends out of their hands... yet these two came rushing straight toward them!

Meanwhile, Fang’s expression turned utterly grim at the sight of the green meteor shower descending rapidly toward them.

His blood turned cold... he could never forget those damned soul-burning flames.

He knew his regeneration wouldn’t spare him their agony, and with that many meteors falling, tens of kilometers of forest would turn into a burning hell!

”They really dared to come?” Rain murmured with a deep frown.

Seeing the ink meteors, he knew that deaf painter was also here... after the way she destroyed his clone during the Faction Event, he had little desire to face her himself.

After all, Jasmine erased his clone’s spiritual consciousness and even the soul protected within the Hexgaze Lurker... with a mere stroke of her brush!

While the fate of their clones still haunted those two, the Hound’s cold gaze remained fixed on the burning figure atop the meteor.

It wasn’t just him...

The Bishop watched through the wisp he placed within the Hound’s soul, sharing his servant’s view of the battlefield without setting foot on Cruor.

He saw the same meteors, the same flames... yet he didn’t care one bit about his dogs’ safety.

’Jackpot... I should have done this sooner.’

Bishop Na’thir grinned sinisterly at Levi’s burning figure, then issued his orders.

’Change of plans... do not return without the boy and his little girlfriend!’

Na’thir intended to use Idriss as a hostage to force Levi out of Heliodor... yet before he even made his demands, the boy came rushing over with Jasmine!

Although Fang’s first instinct was to run as far as possible from the impact zone, he didn’t dare ignore his master’s orders.

Overhead, the first meteor grew large enough to hide most of the crimson moon, casting a gigantic shadow over their location.

Levi showed no intention of slowing down, even with Idriss still in their hands... he seemed to expect them to protect his own rescue target from the attack!

They understood his reasoning. If Idriss died, Levi would no longer need to remain here to save him.

Na’thir’s next order confirmed their suspicion... keep Idriss alive until they secured Levi.

”Stand behind me.”

The Hound raised his head toward the meteor shower... then golden light erupted from his body, racing across the ground around the four of them before rising into thick walls, forcing the surrounding trees aside.

Crack! Crack!

Trunks snapped as golden towers formed at the corners and climbed above the ruined canopy... then broad arches joined overhead, sealing the roof.

Within two seconds, a gigantic castle enclosed their position, its golden battlements shining through the green glare!

Prideful Carnage Arts: Castle of Pride!

Fang’s tingling instincts gradually settled as he examined the golden walls enclosing them... he knew how the Hound’s Pride Aspect worked.

His belief in his own superiority strengthened the castle’s defenses, and against someone like Levi, Fang doubted the Hound would question himself for even a moment.

Levi could fill the whole sky with those damned soul-burning flames... but he still needed to break through the fortress before they could touch anyone inside!

Meanwhile, Rain watched the approaching shower through the castle’s narrow windows... something about it bothered him, but he couldn’t determine what.

He followed one of the smaller meteors, then returned his attention to the enormous mass at the front.

The ink, the flames, even the deafening roar... everything seemed right.

The spiritual pressure reaching him through the castle’s protection was real too, leaving him with little reason to question the attack.

Yet that strange feeling persisted.

’What am I missing...?’

Rain concentrated on the smaller masses spreading across the sky, examining them individually as they separated from the two gigantic meteors.

Their flames looked just as threatening... but the spiritual pressure didn’t follow their movements.

He checked them one by one, growing increasingly confused as he traced the pressure through their overlapping trails... until he finally located its source among the descending masses.

One meteor.

Only one was real!

”Illusions!”

Rain shouted before the first meteor reached the tallest tower.

Fang immediately turned toward him, but Rain already searched past the false masses, following the real one as it descended toward a patch of forest roughly a hundred meters to their right.

The others surrounded it, disguising the source of the spiritual pressure and making its flames seem like part of the whole shower!

Yet figuring this out left Rain stunned.

’How the hell...?’

He was certain Levi shouldn’t have even reached Solarbound... an illusion from someone at his rank shouldn’t have deceived Rain for this long!

Especially when he specialized in such means himself, and the gap between their strength should have made the deception easier to expose!

Even if Levi somehow reached Solarbound, Rain should have recognized the false meteors much sooner!

Whoooooosh!!

The first meteor finally engulfed the castle’s tallest tower, but its enormous body dissolved into black-and-green mist around the pointed roof without shaking a single battlement... even the burning figure riding at the front vanished along with it!

Another struck the roof, followed by several smaller ones... across a ten-kilometer radius, the false meteors collapsed into mist, confirming Rain’s discovery.

But he had no time to explain it to his companions.

”The one on the right!”

The real meteor cleared the last branches.

BOOOOOOM!!

It struck the woods a hundred meters away, blasting burning black ink, shattered trunks, and dirt into the sky!

The ground shook under their feet as green flames and a dust cloud surged through the wreckage, driven toward them by the shockwave.

All of them lost sight of the impact site as a dense cloud of soil and debris engulfed the castle’s outer defenses.

Amid the chaos and confusion, an inked portal manifested a few meters from the castle’s right wall.

The Spatial Jammer interfered with sensitive gates connecting different realms, but it couldn’t disrupt Jasmine’s short-distance portals.

The Hound noticed Jasmine’s portal... but before he could make a move, the upper crown of Levi’s staff shot out of it, its pointed tip aimed straight at him!

Whoosh!

Aetheric energy blasted backward from the crown’s base, propelling it like a rocket as its chain rushed through the portal behind it!

The Hound didn’t believe for a second that such an attack could reach him... the difference between their strength was immense, and his castle stood directly in its path.

Levi would need far more than a flying spear to break through his defenses!

Crack! Crack!

Yet the instant the crown struck, fractures spread across the golden wall... before the Hound could comprehend what happened, the entire section shattered!

Golden fragments burst toward his face, followed closely by the pointed crown.

Puchi!

The staff’s crown pierced his right thigh, forcing its way through the thick muscles before emerging from the other side!

’Huh?’

The Hound stared at his wounded leg in disbelief... his castle failed to stop it, and even his own body offered little resistance?!

Even Bishop Na’thir felt his heart skip a beat at the sight.

He knew how difficult it was to injure the Hound, especially with Pride reinforcing his defenses.

Levi’s illusions escaping Rain’s detection surprised him, but this was different... the Hound was a Tier 6 monster; the difference in strength between these two should have been immense!

Yet that crown broke through the castle and pierced the Hound’s body in one strike!

Just as baffled as his master, the Hound barely registered the pain before the crown circled his thigh, winding its chain tightly around the enormous limb... then the chain snapped taut!

Immediately, the Hound’s right leg jerked forward... before he could brace himself, both feet left the ground!

Whoosh!

His enormous body shot through the broken wall like a hooked shark getting yanked out of the sea, scattering golden fragments into the dust and green flames!

He barely caught sight of the portal before it swallowed him!

Neither Fang nor Rain managed to make a move... one instant, the Hound stood beside them, and the next, they were staring alongside Idriss at the closing inked portal in stunned disbelief!