Otherworldly Skeleton Evolution

“Useless, the lot of you! Someone’s been slaughtering our underlings in your territory, and I haven’t heard a peep. If Albaka from Blood Moon City next door hadn’t tipped me off, I’d still be in the dark. What good are you?”

In Blood Void City, the Blood Hell Blade Guard Commander glared at the trembling Blade Guard Leader, Frenzied Guard Leader, and Demon Guard Leader kneeling before him, his rage boiling over.

Last time, he’d scored points by getting Blood Raven to betray Ventis, the Hell Fire Knight and Fifth Demon King among the Demon Lord’s seven great Demon Kings.

Eight days ago, he’d received secret orders to go to Hell City and take up the new position of Hell Frenzied Guard Commander.

But then Blood Raven’s betrayal cost him that position.

He’d barely clawed his way back up for another shot at the Hell Frenzied Guard Commander role through other merits.

This should’ve been cause for celebration. But now, someone had waltzed into Blood Void City and offed over 100 of his men right under his nose?

Sure, Blood Hell Blade Guards were the lowest grunts in the Blood Hell Forbidden Land.

But someone rampaging through his territory, treating him like dirt? That was a challenge to his authority!

How could he hope for a promotion now?

“Commander, we’ve had frequent human incursions into our Blood Hell Forbidden Land lately. We didn’t think it was a big deal, so…”

“So you slacked off? Three of you fooling around?”

The Blade Guard Commander twitched, eyeing their disheveled appearance.

“Uh… well…” The Demon Guard Leader stammered awkwardly.

“Please, Commander, let us atone for our crimes through meritorious service.”

“Hmph, atone? Do you even know who you’re up against or how strong they are?”

The Blood Hell Blade Guard Commander shot them an icy glare.

“To wipe out hundreds of our Blood Void City soldiers in such a short time – these humans are no ordinary foes. Sending you three incompetents would be suicide.”

“Then… what should we do, Commander? If we don’t eliminate these human intruders soon, our Blood Void City citizens might not even be able to leave the city!”

The Blood Hell Forbidden Land wasn’t just home to Blade Guards, Demon Guards, and Frenzied Guards.

It was the domain of the Blood Race.

Like humans, they had their own civilization and hierarchy. Blood Race citizens had lived here for generations, numbering in the tens of millions.

Though dwarfed by humanity’s population of tens of billions, every Blood Race child was born with a hundred times the vitality of a human.

And with each passing generation, their offspring grew stronger.

This was the foundation of the Blood Race’s power.

They were in no way inferior to humans.

Given time to multiply and grow, they would one day break free from the Blood Hell Forbidden Land, invade the human realm, and claim its fertile lands!

So the Blood Race’s offspring were their top priority, the source of their strength.

Protecting the next generation trumped everything else.

“Enough of your useless chatter. This time, we’ll have Mo You accompany you,” the Blade Guard Commander snapped, fed up with their panic and lack of ideas. Time to deploy his trump card.

“What? Lord Mo You is back?!”

The leaders’ faces changed instantly at that name.

Mo You was Blood Void City’s strongest magical prodigy, the only Blood Race Archmage to reach second-tier Blood Soul Master before 19.

His reputation preceded him among the leaders.

After coming of age, Mo You had become the Seventh Demon King’s disciple and hadn’t returned since.

Who’d have thought he’d be back now?

“With Lord Mo You on the job, these humans are dead meat!”

“Humans’ biggest advantage is their numbers, but Lord Mo You’s magical prowess is terrifying. No matter how many humans show up, none can stand against Lord Mo You’s spells!”

The leaders could barely contain their excitement, overjoyed at the news.

…

“This Demon Lord’s Descent skill basically makes me invincible for a short while at this stage,” Jiang Cheng mused after taking down another Blood Hell Blade Guard, pausing to regroup.

He had a hunch things wouldn’t be so smooth ahead.

Even with the Blood Hell Qi buff, he felt it necessary to beef himself up more, just to be safe.

“My magic resistance is my weakest stat. Without Sky Assault Armor’s magic resist and Troll Transformation, I’ve only got 51 magic defense.”

Jiang Cheng sighed quietly.

But with Demon Lord’s Descent, he finally had a lifeline against mass casters.

Though it only lasted a second, that was before upgrades.

With his Evolution and Enhancement Points, Jiang Cheng could turn any skill into a monster.

He just worried about not being able to plunder skills.

He’d cleared out 170 bosses on this run, but only snagged one skill.

Glancing at the loot from those 170 bosses, he didn’t spot any skill books either.

Wild bosses definitely had lower skill book drop rates than dungeon bosses.

The three skill books A Silly Cutie had given him from Purple Fiend Castle were useless to him, so he’d returned them.

But this Demon Lord’s Descent was worth learning.

[Spent 10,000 Evolution Points. Demon Lord’s Descent upgraded to level 2 successfully.]

[Spent 20,000…]

[Spent 100,000 Evolution Points. Demon Lord’s Descent upgraded successfully.]

[Breakthrough Evolution triggered. Spend 200,000 Evolution Points, 2,000 Enhancement Points, and 20 gold coins for Breakthrough Evolution?]

[Fusion Breakthrough Evolution triggered. Spend 400,000 Evolution Points, 4,000 Enhancement Points, and 40 gold coins to fuse Troll Transformation and Demon Lord’s Descent for Fusion Breakthrough Evolution.]

“Fuse Troll Transformation and Demon Lord’s Descent?” Jiang Cheng pondered, his hand bones twitching.

What would that fusion yield?

Jiang Cheng wasn’t sure.

But he knew Troll Transformation’s cooldown was too long at one day.

He checked that Demon Lord’s Descent at level 10 granted 3 seconds of magic immunity, with unchanged cooldown.

Fusing them would negate Demon Lord’s Descent’s advantage of multiple uses.

After some thought, Jiang Cheng decided against fusion.

[Spent 200,000 Evolution Points, 20,000 Enhancement Points, and 20 gold coins for Demon Lord’s Descent Breakthrough Evolution.]

[Evolution successful!]

[Congratulations! Demon Lord’s Descent has evolved into the Legendary skill Demon Lord’s True Form.]

【Demon Lord’s True Form】

Quality: Legendary

Level: 1

Type: Active

Description: Consume 1200 MP. Transform into a Demon Lord for 5 seconds, gaining Demon Lord’s True Form. In Demon Lord state, immune to all magic. Normal attacks become Demon Lord’s Chaotic Slash with 300-meter range and 150% of base Attack Power. Cooldown: 30 minutes.

“My first Legendary skill. It’s powerful.”

Jiang Cheng couldn’t help but feel elated after reading Demon Lord’s True Form’s effects.

5 seconds in Demon Lord state, turning normal attacks into Demon Lord’s Chaotic Slash with a whopping 300-meter range and magic immunity!

Though he wasn’t sure about Demon Lord’s Chaotic Slash’s exact effects, they had to be impressive.

Without hesitation, Jiang Cheng spent 5.5 million Evolution Points, 550,000 Enhancement Points, and 550 gold coins to max it out at level 10.

[Congratulations! Demon Lord’s True Form reached level 10. Breakthrough Evolution triggered. Spend 20 million Evolution Points, 200,000 Enhancement Points, and 200 gold coins for Breakthrough Evolution? After breakthrough, the skill will become Epic quality!]

“Epic? Nah, I’ll pass.”

Jiang Cheng shook his head, declining further evolution.

This one skill had already drained his gold coins.

He’d spent 6 million Evolution Points and a whopping 600,000 Enhancement Points. Upgrading Legendary skills was truly expensive.

For now, level 10 Demon Lord’s True Form was more than enough.

【Demon Lord’s True Form】

Quality: Legendary

Type: Active

Level: 10

Description: Consume 1500 MP. Transform into a Demon Lord for 10 seconds, gaining Demon Lord’s True Form. In Demon Lord state, immune to all magic. Normal attacks become Demon Lord’s Chaotic Slash with 300-meter range and 200% of base Attack Power. Cooldown: 30 minutes.

From 5 to 10 seconds, Attack Power from 150% to 200% – a massive boost!

With this skill and his Attack Power, no player could get close to him within sight!