Infinite Evolution: My Idle Evolution System - Chapter 211

Chapter 211: 7th Stage Apprentice Slayer Realm
“That freak… He actually cleared out a path,” Christopher mumbled, wide-eyed. That was when he noticed a large blue light that reached the tree canopy in height. “The transportation array that leads us out of this place… It’s really there!”

His voice made Diana briefly divert her attention away from a swarm of attacking black vines. Yet, even with a battered body and blood smeared on her face, one could clearly make out the shock etched across her delicate facial features. She absentmindedly deflected black vines while walking up to Christopher, where they both then began moving toward the distant shadowy figures still fighting in the background.

A wide, fan-shaped path had already been cleared. Only fallen and demolished trees remained, with tens of thousands of Nightmare Treant corpses strewn about. Of course, they were drained of all their Nightmare Essence, so none of the other Trial Participants were able to reap any additional boons. But at the moment, none of them cared about something so trivial.

More than 80% of them had died, leaving only the toughest, strongest, and highest-willed Participants still alive. To be entirely honest, those who remained were just glad to be alive, and even gladder to see a saving grace.

However, while everyone traversed over the fallen trees in hopes of quickly reaching the shadowy figure and the 12th Princess, something shifted. A suffocating aura suddenly enveloped the entire forest, causing all of the Participants below the 6th Stage Apprentice Slayer Realm to feel as if an entire mountain were pressing down on them.

That was when ‘it’ appeared…

Made up of hundreds of Nightmare Treants all fused together into one singular organism, this massive, horrifying creature loomed over the treeline. It menacingly stared down at all the little people in the distance before letting its hollowed eyes fall upon the equally tiny shadowy figure blitzing right toward it.

As soon as the colossal fusion of hundreds of Nightmare Treants saw Cassius, it honed in on him with a ferocity bordering on eternal hatred. It bellowed out a soul-shaking roar, then stretched out its large right hand—which, just like the rest of its body, was constructed from a limitless number of black vines. Each individual vine in the arm began to crazily vibrate. Then, without warning, they extended forward, each one taking a different route toward the relatively minuscule shadowy figure below.

Cassius—as emotionless as always—looked up, only to see that the sky was almost entirely blotted out by the black vines of the giant’s right arm. His eyes flashed with sharp coldness before he bent his knees and sprang up like a broken coil.

BOOOM!

He instantly broke through the giant’s right-hand vine barrage and ascended to a height even above the giant, giving him a good view of the giant’s System tag:

{[Treant Singularity (Early-stage Rank 2 Nightmare)]}

[(Earth-rank) Equivalent: S+ Rank]

“Only at the Early-stage of Rank 2 and yet already equivalent to the S+ Rank?’ Cassius mused. ‘Well, no matter. It’ll die and become my strength all the same.’

With that thought echoing behind his flashing movements, he took Lilith and pointed her downward, then lunged in the same direction. Sonic blasts reverberated in his wake as he appeared in front of the Treant Singularity’s head. In that same instant, he blasted out the other side. A large hole was drilled through the giant, but seeing as it was still alive and kicking, Cassius blurred faster.

Another hole was created in the Treant Singularity’s head. Then another. And another. Another, and another, and another…

Finally, with no head or upper torso to speak of, the Treant Singularity collapsed to the ground on its knees. It no longer moved. Right after, under the wide eyes of all the other Participants, Cassius coolly landed on the mangled giant’s corpse. A big string of black smoke and appropriate System Notifications came his way, which he also took as confirmation that the Nightmares didn’t give EXP.

Which was… odd… After all, everything hostile that was also alive should give Experience Points. And yet… Hmm…

That topic briefly lingered while the System Notifications rang:

*Ding!*

[Absorbed Nightmare Essence of an Early-stage Rank 2 Nightmare – Treant Singularity -]

[You have advanced to the 7th Stage Apprentice Slayer Realm!]

[Your connection with the Nightmarescape moderately deepens!]

And just like that, Cassius ranked up to the 7th Stage Apprentice Slayer Realm, bringing his power level to something anyone would consider insane for a newly awakened Nightmare Slayer!

On a side note, Yuna managed to reach the absolute pinnacle of the 7th Stage Apprentice Slayer Realm because of all the Nightmare Essence she absorbed. Furthermore, her Nightmare Talent was considered superb, making it far easier to get the most out of every ounce of Nightmare Essence. This Talent would also make what came next—the solitary mediation and consolidation necessary to achieve the 3rd Class Slayer Realm—far easier.

The bottleneck that prevented countless Nightmare Slayers from breaking through would be a breeze for her to overcome.

Anyway, those like Christopher, Diana, and the other high-born noble children also made great progress from this extremely difficult Trial. Some were even close to breaking through into the 7th Stage. Of course, none of them got anywhere close to the same gains that monsters like the 12th Princess and Cassius obtained.

Though, to conclude this grand Trial of boons and good ol’ fashioned suffering, Cassius leapt off the Treant Singularity’s corpse. He walked toward the enchantingly beautiful white-haired woman. Her glistening horns and predatory irises were obviously noticed by him and him alone, but he paid them no mind. Instead, he sauntered next to her and motioned for her to walk by his side.

She did so without much thought.

They leisurely approached the giant spherical light that encompassed all sides of the Nightmare Treant Forest. Ignoring the eager Trial Participants dragging their legs behind them, they seemed to be absorbed in their own little world. A world where a pretty, mysterious girl played a glancing game with an even more mysterious man of extreme beauty.