Sinner System-Chapter 401: Evolution

Point-of-View: Vaszel Vos Kealfaos

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"Hm...you, step forth," I commanded an Ogre, the one with the strongest Aura of all the Monsters in this Goblin colony.

The Cores were gathered up before me, the Ogre coming to a halt in front of the pile of Cores, nearly four thousand in total.

Here I go...

"Now, <Demonic Art: Evolution>," I chanted, the Cores starting to glow as the Ogre let out a startled grunt.

It shakily stumbled as the glow of the Cores grew brighter and brighter, before a loud, bellowing roar of pain rang out as its body spasmed and convulsed violently.

Sprays of blood burst out as its skin ruptured all over, before it howled in agony as its eyes exploded, its throat bursting open as it collapsed onto its knees, before the left side of its chest sharply puffed out as its heart burst.

I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists in frustrated, letting out a growl...three failures in a row, why is it not working?!

It is supposed to be fifty percent, so I did anticipate and prepare myself for some failure, but not thrice in a row, damn it!

"Whatever it is that you’re trying, Lord Vaszel, it does not seem to be working," Chimed in Spektar, before shrinking back as I gave him a murderous glare.

"Quiet. I have no use for your snide remarks. I am not giving up...onto the next one," I growled, the remaining Goblins shrinking back into their cave as my anger and frustration surged.

I took a deep breath in an effort to compose myself, but it didn’t help much.

It’s fine...it will work eventually, and I have no choice but to keep trying until it does. I have no shortage of Monsters, so there is no reason to stop or be conservative.

Even so...these consecutive failures are infuriating...

...

...

"This really seems like a colossal waste of our resources, my Lord."

"Quiet."

"Very well."

I tapped my foot against the ground impatiently as I watched the Monsters before me slaughter each other, waiting restlessly for enough Cores to be gathered.

I was now at a territory swarming with Giant Mantises and Scythe Mantises, hoping that I would have better luck with this lot.

Come on, damn it...this had better not be another failure...

"Alright, enough! Gather the Cores before me!" I commanded, the Monsters ceasing their fighting before extracting the Cores of the fallen and bringing them here.

Within a few minutes, a large pile of Giant Mantis and Scythe Mantis Cores had been gathered, before I looked around at the remaining Scythe Mantises, narrowing my eyes at the one with the most intense Aura.

The Scythe Mantis stepped forward as I signaled it to approach, before coming to a stop before the pile of Cores. I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, before steeling myself and chanting...

"<Demonic Art: Evolution>."

I felt a mix of anticipation and dread as the Cores began glowing, a sharp chitter ringing out as the Scythe Mantis tensed up in pain, cracks spreading out across its exoskeleton.

It screeched loudly as the cracks deepened, convulsing and stumbling back as a thick, gelatinous liquid oozed out through the cracks in its exoskeleton, a violent shudder erupting across its body...before the tension over its body abruptly faded.

My eyes widened as its body began glowing, a burst of energy erupting out, puffs of dust rising up around it.

Yes...yes, yes, YES!!!

Its body began to morph, its figure turning more sleek and narrow, the cracks in its exoskeleton closing up. Its blade-like arms morphed into hands, with razor-sharp fingers.

Curved, scythe-like blades extended out of the back of its wrists, curving back and extending past its elbows.

Translucent wings extended out of its shoulder blades, fluttering slightly as the glow of its body sharply intensified, a powerful burst of energy erupting around it, before the glow surrounding it began to fade and settle.

A wide smirk spread out across my lips as an immense Aura swirled around it, before it lifted its gaze as I approached, shrinking back slightly.

"Excellent...finally, a success. I expect you to serve me well," I remarked, as the Monster got down on one knee and bowed its head.

"Yes...my...King..."

Hm, a bit stilted...

"Spektar. I would like you to converse with him, until he can speak fluently," I instructed him, before turning back to the Monster before me and adding, "As for you, I shall call you...Slasher, the Mantis King.

Or perhaps Mantis Lord would be better? No, I shall go with Mantis King. That is what you are, the Mantis King, and you name is Slasher. Yes, a fitting name, if I do say so myself."

"I am...fe...female...my...King."

Oh, my mistake. Yes, her voice is rather soft, not particularly masculine but not overtly feminine either.

"Okay, Mantis Queen, then."

My Demonic Art: Evolution, finally successful after four attempts.

By sacrificing thousands of Monsters within the same evolutionary cycle and using their Cores as a catalyst, I can force-evolve a individual of the highest form of their evolutionary cycle into an even stronger form.

I used it on myself in the past, to evolve from Demon to Greater Demon, then to Archdemon, and finally, to my current form, the Demon Lord.

I killed thousands upon thousands of Lesser Demons, Greater Demons and Archdemons to attain this form.

The number of Cores required depends on how strong they are. To use the humans’ ranking terms of Monsters, if I use mostly Low or Mid Level Cores, it would require a much greater number of Cores.

But if there is a good mix of Cores from Monsters categorized as High Level and above, less Cores will be needed as a catalyst.

Unfortunately, success is not guaranteed, I needed two attempts to evolve myself from Archdemon to Demon Lord.

Until now, it had been nearly three centuries since I last used this Demonic Art, I had no further use for it as far as I myself was concerned, after evolving to this form.

This Monster, the Mantis Queen, she is even more powerful than Archdemons and Dragons are, quite significantly.

If I can get a few more Monsters on this level, my victory will be all but assured.

However, I will not try this with any Archdemons, Dragons or King Ants. For two reasons...the first being that they are far too valuable to risk in this manner.

And the second reason, it would be dangerous to create Monsters that are on the same level that I am.

I run the risk of them rebelling against me, they may try to attack me instead of serving me.

Now, then...I am far from done yet, one is nowhere near enough.

Yes, I am only just getting started...