Chapter 125: Elite Evolver

The Arachnid stared at Cassian for several seconds, its eight glossy black eyes examining the man standing before it.

Gradually, the tension in its posture eased, and its mandibles began to twitch rhythmically.

?Then it burst into jarring, clicking laughter.

?"Hahaha! So this is what had me worried?"

?The creature straightened to its full height, its earlier wariness replaced by undisguised contempt.

?"At first, I thought someone troublesome had discovered this place. But now that I’ve gotten a better read on you, you’re nothing more than a Tier II Lord!"

?Its mandibles spread into a cruel, jagged grin.

?"A Tier II Lord dares to barge into my territory, kill my guards, and threaten me? What trick did you use to accomplish that? And how did you conceal your presence so thoroughly?"

?The Arachnid leaned forward, its eight eyes gleaming with malicious curiosity.

?"Whatever technique you’re using, the mana backlash must be considerable to deceive my senses to this extent. But don’t worry. I’ll make sure you tell me everything."

?Cassian remained silent.

?He didn’t bother correcting the creature’s assumptions, nor did he show the slightest interest in explaining how he had infiltrated the facility. His calm expression only seemed to irritate the Arachnid further.

?The creature’s mandibles shifted again, forming something disturbingly close to a smile.

?"Actually, it doesn’t matter. I’ll force the answers out of you myself. Consider it payback for running your mouth."

?BOOM!

?Silver mana erupted violently from the Arachnid’s body.

?The energy surged outward in a blinding wave, spreading across its limbs before condensing tightly around its heavy fists. The metallic floor beneath its feet groaned under the pressure, and the air around it trembled violently.

?"Threatening a First Order Elite Evolver?" Its voice dropped into a vicious, guttural growl. "That will be the biggest mistake of your pathetic life!"

?The instant the final word left its mouth, the Arachnid vanished.

?Its speed was astonishing.

?One moment it stood several meters away; the next, it appeared directly before Cassian, its silver-coated fist already hurtling toward his head.

?The punch carried enough force to shatter reinforced armor and pulverize bone. Silver mana spiraled around the creature’s knuckles, compressing into a concentrated sphere of raw destruction.

?The Arachnid’s eyes gleamed with triumphant malice.

’?Too slow.’

?From its perspective, the outcome was already decided.

?Cassian hadn’t moved. He hadn’t raised his arm or shifted his stance to evade the attack.

The fist was inches from connecting with his skull, a strike that would send him crashing to the floor before he could even comprehend what had happened.

?So much for the exterminator.

?The creature’s mandibles curled in anticipation.

?Then—

?A voice, cold enough to freeze the air in the chamber, resonated through the space.

?[Burst]

?The Arachnid’s eight eyes widened in sheer shock.

?Its fist hadn’t even reached its target, yet the entire environment had fundamentally shifted.

?The world seemed to grind to a halt.

?The alarms blaring throughout the facility stretched into distant, distorted moans.

The red warning lights flickered sluggishly, and even the silver mana surrounding its fist seemed to crawl through the air like thick oil.

?Cassian moved.

?His expression remained completely indifferent as he raised his hand toward the approaching creature.

The movement was simple, almost casual, yet the Arachnid suddenly felt as though it had plunged into the depths of a dense ocean.

?Immense resistance pressed against its limbs.

?Its muscles responded too slowly, and its primal instincts screamed at it to retreat. But by the time it realized something was terribly wrong, Cassian’s hand was already closing the distance.

’?What is this?!’

?The Arachnid tried to twist away mid-air.

?It couldn’t.

?Its body refused to respond, trapped as if the space surrounding it had solidified into an invisible prison.

?A dark circle formed around Cassian’s hand.

?The shadow condensed rapidly, its rotating surface swallowing the crimson light cast by the warning lamps.

It resembled a black ring of compressed darkness, silent, dense, and deceptively deadly.

?The Arachnid watched it approach in sheer horror.

?Then, Cassian’s hand struck.

’?BOOM!’

?The shadow circle slammed directly into the creature’s solar plexus.

?For an instant, the impact was deceptively quiet.

?Then, the accumulated force exploded outward.

?The Arachnid’s torso buckled violently as the blow drove deep into its chitinous body. Its silver mana shattered instantly around the point of impact, scattering into brilliant fragments before the creature was launched backward like a cannonball.

?Its feet left the ground entirely.

?It hurtled across the chamber, cutting through the heavy air before crashing into the reinforced far wall with a deafening impact.

?CRAAASH!

?The structural wall buckled beneath its body. Metal plating twisted inward, and a web of deep fractures spiderwebbed across the surrounding architecture.

The enormous Worldbreaker Core continued humming beside the wreckage, its colossal frame trembling faintly as concrete dust rained down from the ceiling.

?For several seconds, absolute silence fell over the chamber.

?Cassian slowly lowered his hand.

?The shadow circle dissolved into fine wisps of darkness, flowing seamlessly back into his hand.

?He looked toward the creature embedded deep in the shattered wall, his expression as unruffled as ever.

?"An Elite Evolver?"

?A faint, mocking smile touched his lips.

?"You should have led with that. I might have taken you seriously."

Evolvers were beings who awakened mana through the use of an Evolution Serum, a substance that forcibly stimulated the body’s latent potential, allowing its recipient to transcend the limitations of ordinary life.

?However, awakening mana was only the beginning. An Evolver’s strength depended entirely on their tier, with each successive advancement bringing a qualitative leap in physical capabilities, mana reserves, and ability control.

?There were eight distinct Evolver tiers: Initiate, Mature, Advanced, Elite, Master, Sovereign, Transcendent, and Apex.

?Each tier was further divided into three orders, from First Order to Third Order.

Every advancement represented a massive surge in power, with the disparity between tiers being exponentially more pronounced.

?The Arachnid Cassian had just sent flying was a First Order Elite Evolver.

?The fourth tier.

?A being whose raw strength was equivalent to that of a Tier IV Lord.

?Yet Cassian had casually blasted it into a reinforced wall with a single blow.

?For a long moment, the Arachnid could only stare in shock at the man standing across the chamber.

....

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