Nineteenth floor of the Sacrificial Dungeon of the Divine Battle.
At this point, calling it a floor would be an understatement. The environment here had completely transformed, with a functioning ecosystem of its own.
Tall, lush emerald green vegetation swayed as a gust of wind blew through the sky.
However, there was one thing which hadn't changed at all.
A giant gate with countless runes inscribed on its surface let out a faint white light and next moment two blood-drenched figures appeared in front of it.
In front of the gigantic entrance, the two figures looked extremely tiny.
One of the figures, a young man dressed in nothing but rags, looked around with a frown on his face, hint of vigilance in those tired eyes.
Although killing goblins had become easy, he didn't know why, but a strange sense of anxiety had started to take root in his head.
This anxiety only became stronger as he got closer to the dungeon's final floor, and when he finally stepped on the nineteenth floor—just one step away from getting out of this place—he finally realized what that strange feeling was.
It was his gut instinct warning him.
Meanwhile, while Zarek was looking around carefully, Misery Prime was almost jumping in excitement. He could feel it—evolution was near.
Zarek also happened to witness the smile on Misery Prime's face. Without him realizing, a smile also appeared on his face.
Thinking of all these things, he called out the panel in his mind:
[Your first sequence summon has reached the biological limits and is ready to evolve]
[Infinite Origin - 1202/1000]
[Life Essence of red color or higher - 1/1]
[Two level 1 skills - 2/2]
[Defeat or kill ten enemies of higher grade - 1000/10]
[All the evolution requirements are met, proceed with the evolution]
[Yes/No]
The first three conditions were easily met. The only condition that was troubling them was another level 1 skill, and that too was finally completed once they slayed every single monster on the eighteenth floor. A skill was finally dropped:
[Morphing Fireball Level 1]
Misery Prime could evolve any time Zarek wanted, and there was no need to wait any longer.
Once he confirmed there was no strong monster nearby, he immediately found a secluded location—a cliffside beside a waterfall.
Once they were in a secure location, Zarek created a safe distance between himself and Misery Prime. After all, he wasn't sure what exactly would happen—it was better to be safe than sorry. Then he pressed yes.
Immediately after that, a golden light burst from within Misery Prime and his body rapidly turned into particles of golden light, slowly spinning.
Watching this scene, Zarek's mouth was opened wide, a single thought in his head: What the hell!
His reaction was understandable—what kind of evolution was this?
Before he could continue thinking, Zarek felt his perception change, then his surroundings turned completely dark.
Zarek wasn't clear what had happened or how much time had passed, but when he got a hold of himself, he realized he was floating.
The sensation was eerily similar to the time when he was wandering through the cosmic space after he died.
Zarek's face paled in horror as a possibility popped in his head:
Am I dead... again!
However, he immediately denied that possibility. Although it looked the same as before, he could tell something was different.
Unlike the cold and hostile cosmic space, this felt warm and inviting.
Just as he was wondering, his surroundings started to twist and turn. The fabric of space liquified and another scene appeared in front of his eyes.
A gigantic black ring, with four small marbles slowly rotating around it.
Just one look and Zarek realized where he was: Spiritual space! I am inside my own spiritual space.
And these marbles are the skills that I currently possess, but what exactly is that black disk at the center?
Zarek knew everyone awakened had marbles in their spiritual space. The size of these marbles grew bigger with each level up—not just the size, but the number of runes on their surface also went up.
Usually a level 1 regular skill had ten magical runes powering it, but when it leveled up to level 2, the number of runes doubled.
Zarek was very familiar with these things. But even then, he had never heard about anyone possessing this black thing at the center.
His expression turned heavy, a strong sense of foreboding filling his heart.
As someone who had read countless novels, his heart was immediately filled with conspiracy theories.
He had read about countless instances of ancient monsters flattering up the sheep before devouring it in one fell swoop.
The more he thought about it, the more sure of it he became. Not just that—the black disk even radiated a terrible, ominous atmosphere.
Suddenly Zarek couldn't stop himself from examining his life again from the start. He had been too lucky right from the start.
Even though the god had treated him as an extra and even mocked him, it had allowed him to cross over.
Conspiracy—there was indeed a conspiracy!
Zarek's thoughts spiraled completely out of control. Suddenly his head started to hurt as if someone was hammering an iron nail into his head, preventing him from thinking further.
Realizing this, he immediately took a deep breath, his expression falling further.
Just a moment ago his thoughts were clear as water, but now suddenly his head started to hurt as he examined his life.
No, this can't go on like this. If I continue to think too much, I will alert whatever being this is.
Thinking up to this point, Zarek tried his best to get himself together.
Just as he stopped thinking about it, the pain vanished as if it didn't exist at all.
Instead of feeling happy, Zarek's face turned darker than charcoal. His suspicion was finally confirmed.
The threat was real.
It was then the marble closest to the black disk let out intense red light, and a face slowly appeared on its surface.