The Glorious Evolution

Fang’s spiritual aura swept over them, halting Jasmine’s breath.

She tried to inhale again... but her chest barely expanded.

The brush shook in her hand while Idriss planted the Greatsword in the dirt for support; his shoulders sagged over the hilt as the pressure forced him to support his own weight.

Even Idriss... an established Solarbound Daywalker at the third stage, felt utterly suffocated by Fang’s current spiritual aura.

’This isn’t good.’ N’ibby frowned.

Jasmine nodded with a stern expression... through the black-inked eye hidden behind her fringe, Fang’s crimson aura stood out against the colorless forest.

It had grown far more powerful since the transformation, and even now, it continued intensifying under the blood moon, reaching heights she had never seen before on a Tier 5 entity.

She understood at once... the three of them had zero chance of defeating Fang in their current state.

With Idriss injured and most of her own energy spent, their only chance of winning was if she used her Limited Dominion against him.

But that would leave her trapped in Reality Limbo afterward, and Levi had warned her to prioritize running away with Idriss and Shia instead of suffering under its punishment.

He had only one fallen leaf from the Tree of Life remaining in his wallet, and he planned on saving it for his fight against the Hound.

As for leaving him alone in the forest?

His words were:

’If the plan falls apart and it becomes too dangerous, get yourselves out. Don’t stay because you’re worried about leaving me against all three.’

Jasmine had objected, but his answer was firm.

’I’m holding back to keep my Sun and Void abilities hidden. If it comes to that, I’ll use them... even against all three, I can regain control of the battle. Your job is to get Idriss home.’

She still hated the thought of leaving him here, but he had trusted her to make that decision before one of them died.

’Shia, we’re leaving!’

Alas... Just because she accepted Levi’s decision didn’t mean that Fang was going to accept it too.

The instant Jasmine attempted to join Shia and her father to protect them, Fang instantly disappeared from her black-and-white vision, leaving behind a mere crimson mist.

One blink.

Jasmine’s heart chilled as his gigantic, dreadful claw grew larger in her vision... she barely managed to move her white ink wall in front of herself before Fang abruptly redirected his strike, slicing through the giant tree trunk she was crouching on!

As she was falling, Jasmine instinctively enclosed herself inside a full-on Erasure barrier... her swift decision saved her life as Fang’s terrifying werewolf face appeared at the bottom, his jaw wide open to devour her whole!

As the white ink completely enclosed Jasmine, erasing her scent before it could reach him, Fang’s nose wrinkled once... then he turned his head toward Idriss and Shia.

Their faces went pale at once... the sight of a giant five-meter bestial werewolf was enough to make even the fearless Idriss feel like he was staring at a natural predator.

And yet...

Even when his heart beat in instinctual fear.

Even when his mind and body screamed for him to run.

Even when his life flashed before him.

Idriss didn’t hesitate to take a step in front of Shia, picking up his heavy Greatsword with great difficulty.

’Shia... I want you to run as fast as possible,’ Idriss ordered sternly. ’Jasmine can save herself using a portal inside her white ink barrier... just run, and don’t turn back.’

Idriss appreciated Shia and her friends’ attempt to rescue him... but this situation was exactly why he wanted to kill himself to avoid being used as a hostage.

He refused to have anyone’s life risked for him... and now, he would be damned if he allowed his daughter and the future of Heliodor to die because of him!

”FAAANNG!!”

Without an ounce of hesitation, Idriss charged toward the giant werewolf while roaring to attract his attention to him... and only him.

His injured muscles spasmed as he lifted Fin’Sho. Internal wounds tore open again, forcing blood into his mouth, while the heat coursing through his ruined legs made every step agonizing.

The greatsword had never felt so heavy.

For an instant, Idriss remembered the old days in the gym... trembling arms, burning muscles, and weights he kept trying to lift before his body was ready.

Back then, he thought of his father whenever he wanted to stop. The helplessness of losing him drove Idriss through another repetition, another day of pain... anything to become strong enough to avenge him.

Back then, he could rest after failing and try again.

Only this time... he was lifting it to protect his precious daughter.

His arms trembled violently as he forced the greatsword higher, feeling his muscles tear under the effort... but he refused to lower it.

If this ruined his body, so be it.

He would rather spend the rest of his life unable to lift a sword than watch his daughter die because he failed to lift it this once!

WHOOSH!!

Hot steam burst from his pores as his skin turned crimson, and a thick, bloody aura engulfed Fin’Sho.

His body had already reached its limit... yet Idriss kept pushing, driven by a will older than any technique he had learned or any weapon he had mastered.

The will of a father to protect his children!

”BLOOD FUSION ARTS...”

”HUNDRED!”

”TON!”

”SLASH!!”

Following Idriss’ last roar of defiance, he swung the greatsword at Fang with everything he could muster and beyond... to the point that his own body broke apart before the heavy sword landed on the ground!

A gigantic crimson slash rushed through the forest, splitting the ground along its path!

The empowered wolves between them barely managed to turn before it reached them... their enormous bodies exploded into blood, one after another, as the slash cut through the entire pack without slowing!

Fang instinctively crossed both arms before his head.

BAAAANG!!

The impact forced his gigantic body backward, his claws digging through the soil as he tried to stop himself!

He slid dozens of meters before holding his ground... but the earth continued breaking around him, hurling dirt and shattered trunks into a gigantic dust cloud that swallowed him whole!

As his form disappeared at once, Idriss planted the greatsword in the ground before his legs gave out.

Blood poured from his mouth, nose, ears, and even his eyes... dripping over the shaky hands supporting him against the hilt.

His skin had split across his arms and shoulders, soaking his clothes while hot steam rose nonstop from his entire body.

He tried to straighten... but his ruptured muscles merely squirmed, forcing another mouthful of blood through his teeth.

This was it... the final limit of his physicality.

If it weren’t for his own daughter standing behind him, Idriss would have collapsed long ago...

But never in front of his children.

A father could never collapse before them.

A father was the backbone of the family.

As long as she remained there, he couldn’t let himself fall.

”Dad...?”

Shia stared at his bleeding back, unable to move for a moment.

The recovery totems had only just helped him stand... yet he forced his body far beyond what it could take, destroying himself to give them a chance to survive.

Idriss’ arms were still trembling.

Blood continued gathering around his feet... and he hadn’t even looked down at his wounds.

He only turned his head enough to check that she was still behind him.

Even weakened, he knew that his attack hadn’t killed Fang... Shia knew it as well, as an enormous silhouette soon appeared within the dust!

Then...

Fang burst through it on all fours, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Idriss... the bloody cuts across his forearms doing nothing to slow his charge!

”Shia... run.”

Shia’s lips trembled as the words bubbled out of her father’s bloody mouth... his tough and rugged voice was no more.

Just a muffled, weakened voice... beseeching her to run.

Yet... Shia could never.

She came here to save him... not run away and leave him to get eaten by a monster.

What was the point of getting strong, of evolving, if she still had to watch her father destroy himself to protect her?

Levi had given her the chance to reach Solarbound using nothing but perfect formulas, to become stronger than she had ever dreamed of.

And now that she finally stood at that rank... was she supposed to turn around and run?

How many times had Levi faced something he shouldn’t have survived?

How many times had others believed he was already dead... only for him to return after fighting through whatever nightmare they had left him in?

She always believed he would find a way.

Even when she couldn’t imagine one herself, she still believed in him.

Then why couldn’t she believe in herself this once?!

Her father could barely hold his sword... yet he still stood in front of her, trying to protect the little girl he refused to stop seeing.

If she ran... everything he thought about her would prove correct.

But she wasn’t that helpless little girl anymore!

She was Shia Chaima Morningstar.

And she had always been too reckless to think things through... why the hell would she start now, when her father’s life depended on it?!

Whoosh!

Shia rushed past him.

Idriss reached for her, but she was already throwing herself into the path of Fang’s descending claw!

Puchi!

His claws tore into her abdomen, forcing a mouthful of blood through her lips... the pain was so violent that her thoughts scattered at once!

But her hands still moved.

She grabbed his gigantic wrist with both of her hands, refusing to let him pull away.

”Shia!”

Her father’s weakened scream reached her from behind... and yet, Shia simply turned back and showed him a small grin through her bloody mouth.

”It’s my time to protect you, Dad.”