The forest was silent again.
Ash drifted like snow through the air, glowing faintly under the crimson moon. Where once an army of undead had howled, only charred soil and fractured bones remained. The stench of burning souls lingered, cold and metallic.
Amit Kumar stood among the ruins of the Necrotic Surge — alone, but unshaken. The pale blue fire in his eyes flickered softly as he examined his surroundings. His evolved body felt alien yet familiar, every motion smooth, precise, perfect.
[Status Updated.]
Name: Amit Kumar
Race: Revenant (Evolving Undead)
Class: Revenant Marksman (D Grade)
Level: 6
Talent: Infinite Evolution
Soul Energy: 180 / 300
Evolution Points: 12
Passive: Soul Reclamation
New Skill: Death's Focus — Sharpen perception to slow time and strike at spiritual weak points.
He dismissed the floating panels with a thought. The system's runes dissolved into motes of ghostlight.
His mind, however, was far from calm.
That message still echoed in his memory.
[Warning: Higher Entities have taken notice of your evolution.]
Amit turned his gaze upward.
The crimson moon hung still — yet behind it, he felt something watching.
Vast. Silent. Patient.
He couldn't see them, but their gaze was unmistakable — a pressure on the soul, not the body. The air around him felt heavier, as though reality itself strained beneath unseen eyes.
"Higher Entities…" he muttered, his voice low, resonant. "So there are gods here after all."
His skeletal hand tightened around his bow. He'd lived his first life serving the powerless — a scientist, a soldier, a man chasing survival.
Now, in death, he felt the stirrings of divinity itself.
And it thrilled him.
A faint sound broke the stillness.
The soft crunch of footsteps.
Amit spun, bow half-drawn — but the figure that emerged from the shadows was not another monster.
It was a woman — pale-skinned, robed in black silk that shimmered like ink. Her hair drifted weightlessly, and her eyes glowed the color of frozen stars. The scent of death clung to her like perfume.
"Impressive," she said, her voice melodic yet hollow. "A newborn undead who evolved beyond his rank in less than a night… No wonder they noticed you."
Amit didn't lower his weapon. "Who are you?"
She smiled faintly, her expression neither kind nor cruel. "A messenger. Nothing more."
[Entity Detected: Lesser Apostle of the Nether Moon — Level ???]
Even the system faltered — the level was obscured.
Her gaze lingered on his bow, then on his core. "You carry a rare gift… Infinite Evolution, was it? Such power isn't meant for the lesser races."
He tilted his head. "Then I suppose it's wasted on me."
Her laugh was soft — haunting. "Not wasted. Dangerous." She stepped closer, her presence pressing against his aura like a wave of cold pressure. "You've drawn the eyes of those who rule this world — the old gods, the system architects, the forgotten titans. Each will want to claim you… or destroy you."
Amit's tone turned flat. "They can try."
The woman's eyes glinted with amusement. "Such defiance. I see why the relic chose you." She leaned in, whispering as her form began to dissolve into mist. "When the Eclipse Gate opens, remember this: evolution is freedom, but freedom is war."
Her body scattered into starlit particles, fading into the void.
The silence that followed was absolute.
Amit stared at the space she had occupied, her final words echoing in his mind.
Evolution is freedom… but freedom is war.
He opened his system map for the first time. The interface expanded, revealing a vast stretch of shadowed terrain — forests, ruins, and a massive valley to the north. A blinking marker appeared on the map's edge.
[New Objective: Locate the Ruined Outpost of Elarion.]
[Recommended Level: 10+]
"Elarion…" Amit muttered, tracing the faint outline of a ruined city. "So that's where this world gets its name."
His gaze shifted toward the distant horizon, where a faint silver light shimmered beyond the mountains. The first hint of dawn, or something far older.
Whatever it was, he could feel it calling to him — a pull deep in his core.
But the light brought movement.
Far off, shapes began to emerge — not undead, but humanoid.
Armor. Banners.
A hunting party.
[Factions Detected: Human Expedition — Level Range: 8–15.]
Amit's hollow eyes narrowed. Humans.
Alive.
The last time he'd seen them, he was one of them. Now, he was something entirely different.
Would they recognize the will behind the bone and flame? Or would they see only another monster?
He flexed his hand, spectral power swirling around his fingers. "Guess we'll find out."
The wind shifted.
The crimson moon began to fade behind clouds as the first rays of false dawn pierced the forest.
And from somewhere deep below, something ancient stirred — the faint echo of chains and the whisper of forgotten gods awakening.
The world of Elarion was watching.
And Amit Kumar was ready to be seen.
"Let them come," he said quietly, raising his bow to the rising light.
"I've already died once. I don't fear what's next."