The Price of Evolution

A viscous, inky darkness ravenously consumed every shred of light within the room. A chilling, violent aura of destruction rapidly permeated the air, its oppressive weight akin to an enormous, materialized hand seizing each person by the throat.

The last flickering candle on the wall sputtered and died, plunging the entire hall into absolute darkness.

Only the ominous Dragon Stone, radiating unsettling fluctuations in the hand of “Barton”—or rather, the black-robed figure wearing Barton’s face—remained visible.

“Watch out!”

Ruby’s sharp cry ripped through the darkness.

She reacted almost the very instant the black light erupted, not by retreating, but by surging forward like a moth to a flame, positioning herself in front of Rachel.

“Guards! Form ranks!”

Siena, momentarily stunned by the sudden, drastic turn of events, quickly regained her composure and barked out commands.

The well-trained guild guards, suppressing the terror that threatened to overwhelm them, swiftly converged.

Their long staffs and short blades interlocked, forming an impenetrable human wall around the black-robed figure who still held the Dragon Stone aloft.

Yet, every defense proved utterly fragile in the face of the impending transformation.

“Urgh, ahhh—!!!”

An inhuman roar, a horrifying blend of agony and ecstasy, erupted from the heart of the darkness.

It was accompanied by the sickening crunch of bones bursting, muscles tearing, and the grating scrape of scales rubbing against each other.

The impenetrable mass of black light violently imploded, only to explode outwards with a deafening roar.

The pervasive darkness that had engulfed the entire hall was forcibly ripped open by this furious burst of energy.

What materialized before their stunned eyes was no longer the merchant Barton, nor even a recognizable human being.

It was a grotesque, terrifying entity—half-human, half-dragon.

His height had surged to nearly three meters, his once-fitting clothes now utterly shredded, revealing bulging muscles covered in dark, gleaming, metallic scales.

While his head still retained a semblance of human outline, his forehead and cheekbones protruded sharply, encased in thick white bone armor.

His eyes, however, had transformed entirely into reptilian vertical slits, glinting with a cold, savage fury that, disturbingly, still held a flicker of twisted reason.

His hands had morphed into enormous, scaled talons adorned with sharp bone spurs.

A thick, lizard-like tail, tipped with a bone hammer, ripped through his trousers, gouging cracks into the floorboards.

His legs had grown monstrously thick, his knees now bent backward, and his feet had transformed into formidable claws.

“A mon—monster!”

Siena’s gasp was a choked cry, her voice warped by sheer terror.

The guards, their faces drained of all color, clutched their weapons with violently trembling hands.

“Monster?”

The half-dragon monstrosity—the black-robed figure now revealed in their true form—emitted a low, raspy, metallic-sounding sneer from its throat.

“How utterly foolish… This is evolution! This is the grace bestowed by Lord Solax! The very ladder to a higher form of life!”

He brandished his enormous dragon claws with fervent zeal, stirring up whistling gusts of wind.

“It is a pity, however… this frail human husk ultimately cannot perfectly contain such power! Otherwise, what you would behold would be a far more perfect form!”

Rachel’s heart hammered in her chest.

She had recognized the monster the black-robed man had transformed into almost immediately: it was precisely the giant dragon-human she had encountered in the Gray Mountain Mine.

No, wait!

There were subtle differences.

Rachel forced herself to remain calm.

This creature before her was smaller than the one in the mine, and its appearance differed slightly.

More crucially, it clearly retained a measure of human intellect.

In contrast, the one in the mine seemed like a crude, unfinished prototype.

“Attack! Don’t give him a chance!”

Ruby’s sharp command cut through the air.

Far from being intimidated by the black-robed man’s grotesque transformation, she was the first to launch an assault.

Ruby’s form darted forward like a phantom.

The dagger in her hand became a blur of silver lightning, striking with precise, ruthless jabs at the half-dragon’s comparatively vulnerable joints, eyes, and lower abdomen.

The half-dragon roared, flailing its massive claws, intent on tearing Ruby apart.

Yet, Ruby’s speed was absolute; she moved like a streak of light, appearing before the half-dragon in an instant.

“Hold him back!”

Concurrently, Siena, suppressing her own fear, directed the guards to thrust their long staffs.

They furiously assailed the half-dragon’s lower body and tail from the flanks and rear, striving to impede its movements.

Meanwhile, Vera shielded Rachel and Naiya tightly, retreating as she anxiously observed the unfolding battle.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Ruby’s gleaming dagger, flashing with cold light, struck the half-dragon’s dark scales, yet it only left shallow white scratches, accompanied by the grating shriek of metal on metal.

The creature’s defenses were utterly formidable!

Thwack!

In a flash, a gigantic dragon claw, accompanied by a shriek that tore through the air, swept violently sideways.

One guard, unable to react in time, saw his finely crafted iron staff and the leather armor on his chest shatter and deform like paper.

Blood gushed from his mouth as his body flew backward like a severed kite, slamming violently against the wall, his fate uncertain.

Immediately afterward, the thick, bone-hammered tail, whistling like a battering ram, swung down in a wide arc.

Another guard, attempting to strike its lower body, only managed a short, choked scream before being brutally struck.

The distinct sound of bones shattering echoed through the hall as the guard collapsed limply to the ground.

“Roar!”

The half-dragon let out an excited roar, the sensation of bathing in blood fueling its already rampant savagery.

It twisted its head, its dark golden vertical pupils locking onto Rachel, who was still shielded behind Vera.

It suddenly unleashed an even more piercing shriek, its muscles bulging as it violently slammed through two fearless guards attempting to bind its joints with their staffs.

Its colossal talons crushed the floor, sending shards of stone flying.

Its immense body churned up a foul, putrid gust of wind, hurtling towards Rachel like a runaway war machine.

“Die!”

The half-dragon’s monstrous maw gaped open, revealing dagger-like fangs.

Its vertical pupils, burning with destructive hunger, fixated on Rachel as its massive dragon claws, accompanied by a shriek that ripped through the air, descended directly upon her.

Should that claw connect, Rachel would be torn to shreds.

“My Lady!”

Vera let out a desperate shriek, recklessly throwing herself forward, intending to use her own body as a shield.

In that precise, critical instant!

Naiya, who had been clinging tightly to Rachel’s cloak and trembling uncontrollably, suddenly stiffened.

From the area of her bandaged left eye, an unseen power seemed to surge.

Her unblemished right eye instantly lost its focus, and from its depths erupted a dazzling silver light—cold, furious, and utterly irresistible.

Humm—!!!

An unseen, terrifying pressure, far more potent and concentrated than the one she had unleashed in the slag heaps, erupted from Naiya with explosive force.

There was no earth-shattering sound, only an absolute, suffocating suppression that resonated deep within the soul—as if a slumbering deity had cast a chilling gaze upon them.

Thump!

The half-dragon’s assured pounce slammed into an invisible, insurmountable barrier.

Its massive body instantly stiffened, and the roar forming in its throat died abruptly.

Its dark golden vertical pupils were instantly filled with immense agony and an overwhelming, unbelievable terror.

The black light surging from its form flickered violently, like a doused flame, and rapidly dimmed.

The dark scales covering its body groaned under the strain, and dark red blood began to seep from their crevices.

“Urgh, ah—!”

The half-dragon let out a piteous, agonizing wail, as if all its power had been abruptly ripped away.

Its massive body crashed to its knees, then began to convulse violently.

An opportunity!

“Now!”

A dangerous glint flashed in Ruby’s eyes.

Seizing this fleeting vulnerability, her body shot forward like an arrow released from a bowstring, instantly appearing beside the half-dragon’s head, which hung low in agony.

The dagger in her hand struck with unerring precision towards the vertical pupil, constricted in pain.

Thrust!

The blade plunged deep.

Almost simultaneously, Siena’s short blade and the spear of another undaunted guard plunged fiercely into the half-dragon’s convulsion-exposed abdomen and shoulder blade.

“ROAR—!!!”

The half-dragon let out a deafening, furious roar, laced with unimaginable agony.

The violent aura surrounding its form rapidly receded like a tide, and the black scales covering its body began to peel away and shatter, piece by piece.

Its massive physique rapidly shrank and deformed, like a deflating balloon.

In mere moments, the terrifying half-dragon monstrosity vanished.

In its place lay a gaunt, emaciated, shirtless stranger.

Siena’s short blade was plunged into his chest, a guard’s spear impaled his shoulder, and most fatally, a deep, bloody cavity marred his right eye socket, where Ruby’s dagger remained embedded.

Bathed in blood, he gasped for breath, his body wracked by incessant spasms from the intense pain and the backlash of his power.

He had reverted to a human form, yet was unable to maintain Barton’s disguise; this emaciated appearance was likely his true self.

Siena immediately rushed forward with her people, her voice sharp and commanding.

“Seize him! Keep him alive!”

However, no fear of death or despair of capture marred the black-robed man’s face.

Instead, his remaining left eye fixed intently upon Rachel, who stood a few steps away, her face a little pale.

His gaze was filled with an agonizing pain, yet it burned with a twisted, almost ecstatic light.

He coughed up bloody froth, a wheezing, bellows-like laugh rattling in his throat.

His voice was faint, yet imbued with a strange, unsettling excitement.

“Heh… heh-heh… I never… never imagined… it would be… you…”

With immense effort, he raised a blood-stained finger and pointed it at Rachel, a grotesque smile, a blend of agony and morbid satisfaction, spreading across his face.

“Rachel… Lockwood! The Cult… will not let you go.

Enjoy… enjoy the Cult’s greeting!”

As the final word escaped his lips, the light in the black-robed man’s eye abruptly extinguished.

His raised head slumped lifelessly, and he drew his last breath.

He had chosen to end his own life, or perhaps the backlash of his power and his fatal wounds had simply claimed his last vestiges of vitality.

The room was a scene of utter chaos, permeated by the thick scent of blood and gunpowder.

Everyone who had survived the ordeal gasped for breath, their hearts still pounding with lingering fear.

Ruby cautiously approached the black-robed man’s corpse.

She withdrew her dagger, simultaneously confirming his complete demise.

Siena stared at the body on the ground, her face grim.

Vera, meanwhile, supported a weakened Naiya, whose small face was ashen, almost unable to stand, seemingly exhausted by her sudden burst of power.

Rachel drew a deep breath, suppressing the tumultuous emotions within her.

The black-robed man’s dying words pierced her mind like an ice pick: ‘It would be… you’?

What did that mean?

Was the Cult targeting her?

Her gaze instinctively swept over the wreckage-strewn floor, searching for the Dragon Stone the black-robed man had used to transform.

Then, her eyes suddenly fixed on something at her feet.

There, lying quietly, were several thumb-sized, seemingly unremarkable gray crystals.

Their texture was rough, and they were dull, like fragments of some inferior ore, mixed amongst the shattered bricks and bloodstains.