The dawn came slowly over the forest of bones.
A faint, silver light filtered through the skeletal trees, revealing a landscape half-consumed by decay and rebirth. The crimson tint of the moonlight faded into gray, but its memory clung to the earth like a wound that refused to heal.
Amit Kumar stood at the edge of the clearing, overlooking the valley below. His new senses — the awareness granted by Death's Focus — stretched across the terrain like invisible threads. He could feel every flicker of life, every pulse of soul energy, every whisper of death.
They were close.
The humans.
Armor clinked softly in the distance. A party of six moved cautiously through the undergrowth — their presence sharp, disciplined, purposeful.
Five warriors in mismatched armor, one robed mage in the rear. Their formation spoke of training, not fear.
[Race Identified: Human.]
[Faction: Northern Frontier Expedition — Survival Unit.]
[Threat Level: Moderate.]
Amit crouched low on a branch, blending into the pale bark. His skeletal frame emitted no heat, no heartbeat — only a faint aura of spiritual resonance. Invisible to most senses, he was the perfect predator.
He didn't attack. Not yet.
Instead, he listened.
"Keep your guard up," said a man with a scar running from temple to chin — clearly the leader. "The Surge last night wiped this sector clean. I don't want any of you turning into ash like the last patrol."
"Captain Varic," the mage muttered, glancing around nervously. "That energy reading we tracked… it came from somewhere nearby. No ordinary undead could've caused it."
Varic's grip on his sword tightened. "Then it's either a necromancer… or something worse."
The word hung in the air.
Amit's hollow eyes narrowed. Something worse…
They were looking for him.
He could have vanished into the trees — but something within him whispered otherwise. A remnant of the man he once was.
A scientist. A soldier. A human.
He wanted to see them.
To remember what he had been.
The group stopped in a clearing, setting down their packs. The mage raised a crystal sphere that pulsed with faint blue light.
"Mana density still off the charts," he muttered. "Residual soul energy… massive quantities. Almost like—"
A whisper brushed his ear.
Almost no one noticed. Only the mage stiffened, his face going pale. His sphere cracked with a soft snap.
The whisper came again, soft, cold, and clear.
"Looking for me?"
A shape materialized from the mist behind them — tall, lean, cloaked in shifting shadow. The faint blue flames in Amit's eyes burned brighter as he stepped forward. The humans drew weapons immediately, the mage stumbling back in horror.
"Gods," one of the soldiers whispered. "It's— it's an intelligent undead!"
Amit's voice was calm. "I won't harm you. Not unless you try to."
"Don't move!" Varic barked, raising his sword. "Identify yourself!"
Amit tilted his head. "Identify…?" A hollow laugh escaped him — dry, humorless. "That's new."
His aura pulsed, the air growing heavy. Trees groaned beneath the pressure of his presence. The humans trembled, their souls instinctively recoiling.
"I am Amit Kumar," he said, his tone low and even. "Once human. Now something else."
The mage swallowed hard. "Impossible. Revenants are born of divine curses — not men."
Amit looked at him then, truly looked — and the mage fell silent as spectral eyes met mortal ones.
"Then consider me an exception."
Varic's expression hardened. He didn't lower his sword, but neither did he charge. "What do you want from us?"
"Information," Amit replied simply. "About this world. About the ones watching it."
The mage's cracked orb flickered again. "You mean the— the Entities? The ones behind the system?"
Amit said nothing. The silence was answer enough.
The group exchanged uneasy glances. Finally, Varic sighed, lowering his weapon slightly. "Fine. If you wanted us dead, you'd have done it already."
He motioned for the others to stand down. "We're part of the frontier guard. The world beyond this forest is called the Outer Veil — one of many corrupted zones left after the Cataclysm. The system controls everything here… even the flow of death."
"The Cataclysm," Amit repeated, the word foreign yet familiar on his tongue. "What caused it?"
The mage hesitated. "They say the gods themselves fell to war — and shattered the balance. The fragments of their souls became what you call the system."
Amit's eyes dimmed. Fragments of gods… That explained the mechanical voice, the divine runes, the structure that governed evolution itself.
If the system was built on divine remnants — then his Infinite Evolution might not be just a talent.
It could be the key to ascending beyond it.
Before he could ask more, his senses flared violently.
Something cold and vast stirred beneath the ground.
A pressure heavier than gravity pressed against every soul in the clearing.
[Warning: Abyssal Entity Detected.]
[Class: Corrupted Apostle — Rank: C.]
[Directive: Consume All Evolutionary Essence.]
The earth split open.
From the chasm rose a colossal figure — a monstrosity made of blackened bone and tar-like shadow, its form constantly shifting. A crown of jagged horns jutted from its head, and in its chest burned a hollow void.
The humans screamed. The mage fell backward, clutching his staff.
Varic's voice trembled. "That— that's an Apostle-class monster! We're dead!"
But Amit only raised his bow, spectral energy swirling like a storm around him. His aura flared — bright enough to blot out the morning light.
"Dead?" he said quietly. "That depends which side you're on."
He drew the bowstring.
[Skill Activated: Death's Focus.]
The world slowed to a crawl.
Every particle of dust, every flicker of flame froze in time. The Apostle's heart — that void of nothingness — glowed faintly at its core.
Amit's aim did not waver. His arrow of pure soul essence formed, larger and brighter than any before.
"Let's see if gods can die twice."
He released.
The arrow streaked forward, cutting through reality itself. The Apostle roared — its body unraveling in waves of black smoke. The explosion that followed leveled the entire clearing, sending shockwaves through the forest for miles.
When the light faded, the creature was gone.
Only silence remained.
The humans stared at him — weapons forgotten, mouths open in disbelief.
Amit turned slightly, his voice calm once more.
"Now," he said, "tell me everything you know about these gods."