Chương 694: The Evolution of Death

The system interface shifted, and five class evolution options appeared. Each one offered a new possibility, a Path Luke could follow. [Super Demonic Predator]: Demonic Predators are creatures forged in the hostile worlds of infernal universes, their bodies shaped into weapons built to survive, hunt, and destroy in places where only the most ruthless survive. But even among these beasts, something worse sometimes emerges: a predator that hunts its own kind, not out of necessity, but for the challenge.

By walking this path, you shed the last remnants of a mere assassin and awaken the ancestral instincts of these creatures even further. [Demonic Predator Hands] is only the beginning. Your hands, senses, reflexes, and hunger become extensions of the hunt. You do not pursue merely to kill. You pursue to prove your superiority. As a Super Demonic Predator, skills tied to Predation, Demonic Instinct, Brutal Hunting, and Body Mastery await you.

Every enemy brought down strengthens your nature, every confrontation awakens something deeper, and every enemy you bring down pushes you closer to the top of the food chain. You are no longer just an assassin. You are a beast that hungers for the hunt itself. And every predator that crosses your path will learn it can become prey too. (Attribute Bonus per level: +30 Strength, +24 Perception, +20 Agility, +18 Vitality, +18 Toughness, +15 Endurance, +12 Lethality, +25 Free Points.) [Royal Executioner]: On your journey down the path of assassination, not even nobles escaped your blade. Kings, dukes, heirs, priests, and aristocrats fell before you, proving that titles, noble blood, and high stations mean nothing when death comes calling. By becoming a Royal Executioner, you accept the role of a court-sanctioned executioner: not some common mercenary bought for cheap coin, but a refined blade, chosen by kingdoms, empires, churches, or dark courts to eliminate targets of extreme importance.

You do not kill for chaos. You kill for order, for judgment, for authority. As a Royal Executioner, you will awaken skills tied to infiltration, disguise, noble etiquette, aristocratic presence, and precise execution. You will learn to move through lavish halls, royal councils, and sacred ceremonies without being seen as a threat. To everyone else, you will be just another respectable figure. To your target, you will be the end. Your blade does not need to hide in the shadows at all times.

Sometimes it will stand in plain sight, wrapped in silk, gold, and polished lies. But when the moment comes, you will be the last face your targets ever see. (Attribute Bonus per level: +22 Perception, +21 Lethality, +17 Agility, +16 Intelligence, +15 Willpower, +11 Strength, +9 Vitality, +10 Free Points.) [Slayer Duelist]: You began as an assassin, but your thirst for the hunt pushed you beyond the limits of a single weapon.

Your blades still carry your history, but you have come to understand that not every target should be faced the same way. Some require speed. Others, distance. Others, raw force. And for every target, there is an ideal weapon. By walking the path of the Slayer Duelist, you stop being someone who kills only from the shadows and become an adaptable hunter, capable of facing different enemies on any battlefield. You learned the fundamentals of archery, but that was only the beginning.

Now, your growth depends on exploring multiple combat styles, weapons, and strategies. As a Slayer Duelist, you may awaken skills tied to melee combat, archery, reading opponents, specialized hunting, and tactical execution. Your blade will remain your companion, if that is what you desire, but you will no longer be limited by it. Swords, bows, daggers, martial techniques, or any other useful tool may become part of your arsenal.

You understand a truth many assassins ignore: to hunt specific targets, you need specific weapons. And you are willing to master them all. (Attribute Bonus per level: +24 Dexterity, +23 Perception, +22 Agility, +20 Strength, +19 Lethality, +17 Toughness, +15 Vitality, +15 Free Points.) [Shadow Phantom Reaper]: An ancient class born among Shadow Demons, granted only to those favored by darkness itself. Few are accepted by this path. Even fewer can endure the power it offers. Shadows do not obey just anyone.

They choose those whose very presence already carries the silence of death. As a Shadow Phantom Reaper, you may become nothing but a streak of black to those who dare face you, a presence impossible to grasp until it is already too late. To some, you will be a passing shadow. To others, a specter with its blade already raised. And to your enemies, you will be the reaper who turns fear into judgment. This class goes beyond mere assassination.

You will not be merely a stealthy assassin, nor merely a relentless combatant. You will be a Reaper, an entity of shadows capable of using their power to infiltrate, pursue, confuse, and destroy those who stand in your way. Your blade will be as sharp as the darkness at your back, and every movement may seem to dance along the edge between the living world and the domain of shadows. Skills tied to Shadows, Specters, Demons, and Reapers await you. But be careful: this calling is as dangerous as it is powerful.

Shadows can be loyal allies, but they can also consume those who surrender too much of themselves. There is no path more lethal than this one. Just be careful: while you master the shadows, they may master you first. (Attribute Bonus per level: +30 Lethality, +24 Agility, +23 Perception, +22 Intelligence, +18 Wisdom, +13 Willpower, +10 Dexterity, +20 Free Points.) [Black Blade Thrower]: To kill a target, you do not always need to stand face to face with them.

You have shown talent in the art of knife throwing, eliminating targets from a distance and turning simple throwing blades into instruments of surgical death. When you awakened [Knife Storm], you stopped being a threat to lone targets and became a danger to entire groups. There are many kinds of assassins, and just as many ways to kill. Some prefer the silence of a blade pressed to a throat. Others prefer a clean strike from the dark.

You chose a different path: turning distance, precision, and speed into weapons just as lethal as any close-quarters fight. As a Black Blade Thrower, you will walk the path of thrown weapons, developing skills tied to throwing knives, hidden blades, trajectory control, multi-hit attacks, and long-range executions. Every blade you throw will carry a death sentence. Every flick of your wrist may decide the end of a battle.

You will prove that even a simple knife, in the right hands, can surpass swords, shields, and armor. Keep sharpening your aim, your speed, and your killing intent. Show the world what a true Black Blade Thrower can do. (Attribute Bonus per level: +30 Dexterity, +25 Perception, +23 Lethality, +20 Agility, +14 Wisdom, +10 Endurance, +8 Willpower, +18 Free Points.)"These are all pretty interesting class options... and their evolution paths are clear enough."

Luke stayed silent for a few seconds, studying the choices in front of him. Each one felt like it carried a piece of his path from level 50 to 100. They weren't just names or attribute bonuses. They were paths. Possibilities. Different ways to keep becoming what he was already turning into.

"I got this class back in the tutorial, right after the Beast Lord fight. I left with it, got thrown into Vaelor's demonic dimension, survived the Battle Royale, spent almost all of Stage 2 with it... and now I'm saying goodbye." It felt strange to admit, but yeah, there was nostalgia there. Every skill from that class had been useful somehow. [Demonic Predator Throwing Knife], especially, was one of the ones he used the most. It had saved his life more times than he cared to count.

Super Demonic Predator is the obvious next step for that path, he thought. Though I do feel like I missed out on some interesting abilities from it, like the Tail. In exchange, I got the pair of horns.

"That name is cringe." Luke blinked.

"What?"

"Your class name is cringe," Artemis said.

"Demonic Predator? Come on, man. That has no style."

"Did you seriously interrupt my nostalgia arc just to say that?"

"I'm stating facts. And that's coming from a Hunter."

"I was trapped in a micro-universe full of statues trying to kill me, wardens, and a giant snake hunting me down. So yeah, the class was pretty damn useful to me."

"The name is the marketing, man. Anyway, I won't interrupt you. But we're rejecting the Super Demonic Predator evolution."

"Now you want a say in my choices?"

"If I remember correctly, you showed up one night with a plate of food and went, 'Oh, please, beautiful, sexy Artemis, teach me your ways. I'm a total noob when it comes to this system crap.'"" I'm pretty sure that's not how it happened..." Still, Luke wasn't all that interested in continuing down the Demonic Predator path anymore. The class had done its job. He had learned what he needed from it. Now he wanted to specialize.

He wanted to get better with blades, to refine what he already did well until it became lethal. His gaze moved to another option. Royal Executioner feels a lot more restrained. I think it's a class for someone who isn't that worried about leveling up. Not everyone wants to keep evolving through ranks until they reach the peak of their universe. Most people just want to live and use skills in their day-to-day lives. This class reflects that pretty well. An assassin who decided to settle down in a kingdom.

He dismissed it. Luke wasn't only evaluating attribute points per level. A class carried tendencies, future skills, combat style, and even the kind of path the system would try to push him toward. Slayer Duelist is balanced. It feels like I could awaken skills related to the archery I left behind, close combat... Maybe, if I wanted to fight like a boxer, I'd even awaken skills in that direction. It's a pretty versatile class. He dismissed that one too.

Versatility was useful, but right now, Luke didn't want to branch out. He wanted to become stronger with what he already had. That leaves me with Shadow Phantom Reaper and Black Blade Thrower. He took a deep breath and made his choice. Congratulations! Your class has successfully evolved! [You have evolved into Shadow Phantom Reaper]"Choice made." Luke sat down on the rooftop, staring at the ruined city in the distance.

Between the two final classes, the one he had chosen didn't seem locked into a single combat style, unlike [Black Blade Thrower]. That one was more focused. More direct. Maybe too direct for what he needed right now. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"Figured you'd pick the one that specialized in throwing your little knives," Artemis said.

"Shadow Phantom Reaper has a lot of utility. Versatile, but still within its own style." Choosing a class was about much more than getting more strength, agility, or vitality. The real weight was in the skills that path could unlock. One mistake there, and Luke could end up trapped in an evolution that didn't match the way he fought. [The Shadow Phantom Reaper class is evolving some of your existing skills…] Notifications began to appear.

"Three skill evolutions," Luke murmured.

"Interesting."

Luke watched a fortress from a distance. The place was crawling with vampires. It's like Cadmus said. This island archipelago is the same one I passed through during Phase 4. And the vampires are still here. He moved forward without rushing. He stepped off the edge of the roof, dropped onto another, and kept closing in on the vampire with his back to him. His movement was clean, silent, almost weightless. One quick kukri strike to the head was enough. [You have slain a Vampire...] 1, 258, 772, 536 EP earned"He didn't hear me or catch my scent. This new skill is actually really good." [Advanced Stealth] had become [Advanced Shadow Stealth]. [Advanced Shadow Stealth (Ultra-Rare)]: You have pushed your natural stealth instincts beyond ordinary limits, adjusting your movements, breathing, and posture until they work in harmony with the shadows.

Your steps adapt to the terrain without producing sound, even during rapid movement, while your breathing, scent, presence, and bodily signals are suppressed by the environment. Your body instinctively avoids natural noises, friction, and any trace that might reveal your approach, allowing you to walk or run in silence whenever you choose. Blending into your surroundings becomes natural, making your existence difficult to register even under direct observation.

While in a stealth posture or moving through shadows, your silhouette loses definition and may be perceived only as a dark blur, difficult to identify clearly. In dark or shadowed places, your presence partially merges with the darkness, allowing you to observe, stalk, or approach targets with even greater consistency and control. Luke ran across the rooftops without making a single sound. He had tested the new stealth enough to understand its value. To the vampires, his scent might as well not exist.

His presence barely registered, like he didn't belong in the world at all. When he moved, he was nothing but a black blur to anyone who dared look directly at him. At night, in the shadows, he was almost invisible. He slid down the slope of a roof, dropped beside another vampire, and struck with precision. One clean hit to the head. [You have slain a Vampire...] 681, 857, 973 EP earned At the top of a tower, a vampire stood guard. Luke conjured a knife using the power of [Demonic Predator Throwing Knife].

The black blade appeared in his hand, but now it was covered in a layer of shadow that gave off a thin mist, like living smoke. He threw it. The knife tore through the air in a black streak. [You have slain a Vampire...] 374, 311, 222 EP earned The vampire fell from the tower and hit the roof below. Even with the body's weight breaking part of the structure, not a sound escaped. Test completed successfully.

The second skill evolved by the class had been [Advanced Knife Throwing], which had now become [Advanced Shadow Knife Throwing]. [Advanced Shadow Knife Throwing (Ultra-Rare)]: Your mastery over thrown blades has reached a new level, now accompanied by the influence of shadows. When thrown, your knives are wrapped in a dark layer that stabilizes their flight, muffles their sound, and makes their trajectory difficult to perceive, causing them to pass through the air like nearly imperceptible black blurs.

This concealment also makes them harder to detect through Perception, sharpened instincts, or simple magical sensors. The projectiles maintain high accuracy and penetrate armor more easily. The chance of inflicting Bleeding is increased, and precise hits apply Hemorrhage, increasing damage over time. Consecutive attacks against the same target slightly increase the accuracy and damage of each subsequent throw.

If a blade kills its target, the shadows muffle the immediate sounds of its fall or final movement for a few seconds, allowing silent executions even in elevated areas or places difficult to infiltrate. Extreme impacts, heavy destruction, or intense external noises can still overcome this effect. Now I just need to clear the vampires off the rooftops before they see the damage. Luke shot across the roofs.

Knives appeared in his hands and vanished a moment later, crossing the night before burying themselves in vampire heads. Every fall was muffled. Every death vanished into the shadows. [Witch's Thread activated] The thread pulled him forward. Luke crossed the distance in a single burst, slipped through a window, and dropped onto a vampire. [You have slain a Vampire...] 863, 146, 545 EP earned He moved down the fortress corridor like a black blur. A vampire passed by whistling, carrying a tray.

Luke crouched and merged with the shadows. After a few seconds, he began following close behind. With [Witch's Eye], he glanced at the tray's contents. A severed human hand, served alongside actual food. Luke walked right behind the vampire, close enough to touch him. The man noticed nothing. Then Luke blew lightly against his back.

"Weird," the vampire said, looking behind him. Luke had already used [Shadow Dive], sinking into the shadows before he could be seen. Test completed successfully. Even his freaky vampire nose didn't pick up my breath. The kukri left his hand in the next instant. The vampire dropped with the tray, but neither the body nor the utensils made any sound when they hit the floor. [You have slain a Vampire...] 1, 007, 083, 003 EP earned One by one, every vampire in the fortress disappeared.

Luke stopped in front of an open room. It looked like some kind of lounge. He had already scouted it with [Soul Infiltration], so he knew how many were inside. Without hesitation, he ran in and threw both kukris. [You have slain a Vampire...] 241, 891, 251 EP earned [You have slain a Vampire...] 112, 042, 824 EP earned He conjured a knife and launched it at the third vampire. [You have slain a Vampire...] 602, 817, 369 EP earned One of the kukris returned to his hand through magnetism.

When another vampire rose from the couch, Luke was already on him. The cut came fast, precise, and final, ending him before he could make a sound. [You have slain a Vampire...] 30, 952, 444 EP earned Can't make a sound in this place. Can't even let too much blood hit the floor. His enemies had sharpened senses. Any slip could compromise the infiltration.

Luke quickly gathered the bodies and stored them in his pocket dimension before the smell or blood could draw attention. He returned to the corridor and killed a few more vampires along the way. When he went down the stairs, he found one of them reading absentmindedly. Luke approached from behind and drove the kukri into him. [You have slain a Vampire...] 177, 111, 352 EP earned I had a feeling... and I was right. There are still humans alive in here. That floor was the fortress prison.

There were easily twenty people being held captive. Vampires needed human blood to stay alive, after all. I'll get them out later.

Luke stared at a wooden door. A conversation was happening on the other side. The two vampires inside weren't even trying to keep quiet. They spoke loudly, relaxed, like two old friends in a safe place. Surprise counts as a weapon too. Luke ran forward and kicked the door hard.

"What the...?" He spun between them, kukris already moving. Both vampire barons had their heads cut off at the same time. Damn it. Didn't finish them. One of them raised a hand toward Luke. He didn't wait to find out what was coming. He jumped out the window instantly. A burst of hot air filled the room. Luke landed in the fortress courtyard. Seconds later, one of the barons jumped out the window and landed there too. His head was intact, with only a thin line of blood running down his neck.

They triggered vampiric regeneration. Sneaking in and killing both of them at once hadn't worked. Still, Luke had forced them to burn that broken-ass skill.

"I don't smell any of my soldiers," the baron said, sniffing the air.

"Me neither," said the other, jumping out of the room and landing beside his partner.

"You two are the only ones left," Luke said. The barons stared at him for a second. Then they laughed.

"Is this guy serious?"

"Of course not." One of the barons clapped hard. The sound echoed through the courtyard.

"That signal will put my men on alert."

"Sure. Let's go with that."

"And where are the rest of your group, human?" the baron asked.

"How many hunters are with you?"

"None. Just me."

"Yeah. Sure."

"And I'm not a Vampire Hunter either." [Cloak of the Arcane Witch activated] One of the barons pulled a massive axe from his storage item. The other drew a bow.

"After we kill this guy, we'll find out why none of our soldiers answered the signal."

"One more test," Luke said. The third skill evolved by the class had been [Advanced Blade Handling (Uncommon)], which had now become [Advanced Blade Handling (Rare)]. [Advanced Blade Handling (Rare)]: Your blade is now faster, deadlier, and more precise, moving in harmony with the shadows. You have refined your proficiency with daggers, short swords, and other light one-handed weapons, allowing for even faster, more accurate, and more efficient strikes.

Your movements flow without interruption, each attack guiding the next with lethal intent, while your cuts waste less and less force or motion. In dark or shadowed places, the path of your blade becomes harder to follow, as if the cut itself blends into shadow. Rapid movements may leave brief visual echoes, confusing the enemy's reading and making your attacks more unpredictable. As a result, your ability to eliminate targets with surgical precision becomes even more refined. The axe-wielding baron charged first.

He moved in short, violent dashes, trying to close the distance brutally, while the archer began firing arrows to limit Luke's movement. Luke dodged the arrows and met the axe head-on. His kukris struck the heavy weapon with a dry impact. The shock was strong enough to freeze the vampire for an instant, as if his body hadn't understood what had just happened.

"He's fa—" The baron's head fell before he could finish. [You have slain a Vampire...] 4, 245, 996, 653 EP earned Luke was already running. He threw a kukri at the vampire archer, but the baron dodged while retreating. [Telekinetic Pull activated] The kukri flew back as if yanked out of the air by an invisible force and struck the vampire from behind. At the same instant, Luke got close enough to attack with the other blade. [You have slain a Vampire...] 5, 441, 257, 016 EP earned"Area clear.

Vampires exterminated." Luke jumped. [Cloak of the Arcane Witch] launched him upward, and he landed atop the fortress's highest tower. Below him, not a single vampire remained alive. He looked over the fortress in silence for a few seconds.

"Yeah. This class is pretty damn good." Now there was only one thing left for him to do. Evolve to Rank D.