Evolution of the Ruined Heir

Chapter 268: Ready

Renlo fought to steady his trembling limbs as he wrestled with the fact that he had been moments away from death.

‘Calm down, Renlo. Calm down!’

He gripped his spear tightly and sank into a stance as the figure turned towards him. His eyes were crimson, cold, predatory. And despite the mask, Renlo could’ve sworn he saw him smile.

‘He’s not that fast.’

Renlo used the brief moment to analyze what he had noticed. The figure had ambushed him, yet he had still managed to escape.

‘A node formation, probably. It’s not hopeless,’ he tried to reassure himself, just as the figure raised his blade.

Then… whoosh!

Renlo’s eyes widened as the figure vanished from sight. A cold chill bit at him, and he twisted, his spear piercing toward his left.

Clang!

The sharp sound of blade meeting blade echoed, sparks flying. For a moment, Renlo caught sight of the figure’s shocked gaze before the force of the clash vibrated through his arms.

The blow knocked him back, but with a sudden twist, Renlo regained his balance, only to feel another surge of danger the next second. He threw himself aside, barely evading the strike.

But the figure gave no room to breathe. The moment Renlo found his footing, the attacker was on him again, blade descending like a guillotine.

Renlo narrowly sidestepped, then lashed out with a desperate thrust toward the figure’s chest.

The spear missed by mere inches as the figure spun, his blade slashing toward Renlo’s side.

Renlo’s eyes widened in shock. He brought his spear up in a desperate block, bracing for the impact.

The blade struck. Another surge of force roared through his body as he was flung to the side, rolling across the floor before crashing into a broken tree with a brutal thud.

He spat out a mouthful of blood, struggling to rise.

‘H-he’s too strong…’

The thought settled like a weight in his chest, but his grip on the spear only tightened.

One thought rang in his head…

No one can be worse than that monster. Than Malakai.

Renlo was about to rise again when the sound of multiple footsteps reached his ears.

He turned, another figure had appeared, donned in a black cloak and mask, just like the first.

He turned again, another. Then another.

They kept appearing until he was surrounded from all sides.

Each figure stared at him with crimson, predatory eyes. Their bloodlust was thick in the air. Their lethal intent unmistakable.

Through it all, Renlo let out a heavy exhale. A strange calm settled over him.

Shockingly, he realized…. His pounding heart had steadied. His trembling limbs were still.

His mind was calm.

Renlo knew he might die here. But as Malakai’s words echoed in his mind, he decided…

He was ready to die fighting.

…

Malakai’s mind had never been sharper than it was at that moment.

A green dome reaching for the skies had appeared before the stronghold. Malakai knew exactly what that dome signified.

They were screwed. Simple as that.

However, despite the seriousness of the situation, something even more insane caught his attention.

Ahead of him, leading a group of masked figures, was a Synergy stage evolver.

Their bloodlust soaked the air, leaving no room for misunderstanding.

They were here for blood.

A synergy stage evolver might’ve been more common than a Bloom, but their might was still terrifying. Each one had the power to annihilate an entire battalion. They were comparable to tactical nukes, natural disasters in human form.

And now, one of them had just locked eyes with Malakai.

In that moment, Malakai’s mind reached a level of calm he’d never known before.

One thought thundered in his head.

‘He’s coming.’

The synergy stage evolver vanished, but Malakai had already thrown himself from the tree.

BAM!

The broken tree Malakai had just been on shattered into a million pieces, splinters exploding everywhere like speeding bullets.

Malakai hit the ground in a roll, shielding himself from the deadly barrage.

The moment the rain of wood ended, he was already on his feet. His mind spun, calculating. Predicting.

‘Straight punch.’

A hand tore through the haze, rocketing toward his chest.

Malakai barely caught a glimpse of it, even with his active vita field. He couldn’t follow the speed. But his arms had already crossed over his chest in a desperate guard.

BOOM!

The punch struck like a wrecking ball smashing into a glass building.

Malakai felt his arms shatter under the impact. The force blasted through him and he exploded backwards like a launched missile, crashing through shattered trees before slamming into a massive trunk that halted his momentum.

A heavy haze blanketed the area as silence fell. Then…

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The sound of footsteps echoed, breaking the stillness.

The figure walked calmly through the wreckage, heading straight for where Malakai had landed.

His gaze was cold. Detached. He wasn’t here for conversation. In fact, he looked bored.

He had been sent to eliminate Malakai, a mere node-formation evolved. It was trivial work. One beneath his level.

His eyes narrowed slightly as he neared. In seconds, he arrived.

But as the haze cleared, his gaze snapped to pinpricks.

‘What?’

Malakai was gone.

He had felt it, though Malakai had shockingly managed to block the punch, it had still shattered both arms and left him heavily injured.

He shouldn’t be able to move.

The evolver scanned the area, then narrowed his gaze toward the ground.

‘He’s underground!’

He was just about to move when a faint sound reached him.

Something was falling.

He looked up to see a small dagger descending from the sky, heading straight for the ground in front of him.

At first, the synergy-stage evolved prepared to ignore it. Just a dagger. Irrelevant.

But then he saw the spot it was aimed at.

Half covered by haze, right in front of him, was a pile of compact, portable objects stacked together.

He recognized them instantly.

‘Vita mine!’

The dagger pierced one of them the moment the realization hit, and an explosion of roaring magnitude erupted.

I apologize for the irregular release. Everything should be back to normal now. Cheers!

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