Monster Heavenly King - Chapter 142



Only Noblemtl

142. The Master of Ashes

[You have reached the level where evolution is possible.]

[Would you like to evolve?]

[Y/N]

Hyunseong was quietly staring at the window that appeared before his eyes.

Seol-ah looked at her as if she was thinking hard and stroked her chin, and asked with a puzzled look.

-what’s the matter?

“No. I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, but why are there choices?”

There are only advantages to monster evolution, so why is there an option to not evolve?

A thought crossed my mind that there might be some kind of trap in evolution.

-You’re saying that now?

“I did it because I had no choice but to do it because it was necessary.”

If I hadn’t become a skeleton (upper level) through my first evolution, I wouldn’t have gotten this far, and I wouldn’t even be able to swing a sword properly yet.

But, as I had more free time, I couldn’t help but have doubts.

-Maybe it’s for safety reasons?

“safety?”

-Honestly, it’s not that safe to evolve, is it? It’s not like there’s a rule against attacking while transforming like in the story.

“indeed.”

There may be cases where you level up and evolve while fighting against the majority rather than the minority.

If you are forced to evolve at that time, there may be cases where you die while evolving.

“But… that requires the prerequisite that the System Awakener evolves.”

This is evidence that he also considered non-human System Awakeners like himself.

Seol-ah rang the sword bell as if it was nothing to Hyun-seong’s words.

-There’s no evidence that the system itself is exclusive to humans.

“That’s true.”

To begin with, I still had many questions about the system and knew very little about it.

-So, you’re not going to evolve?

“That can’t be.”

If I hadn’t done it from the beginning, I wouldn’t have known, but there was no choice but to not do it now.

Hyunseong brings his finger bone to Y without hesitation.

[You can choose which race to evolve from the following.]

[Skeleton King]

[Ark Reach]

[Bone Dragon]

There are still three types that can evolve.

I stroked my jawbone and looked at the options quietly.

I thought about it from many different angles, but in the end, there was only one evolution that was right for me.

“You can’t change it after coming this far.”

-When you become a Bone Dragon, you can use a magic gun that tears space apart. Can you endure this?

“No, I think he was a bit strong back then.”

-That’s true, but a dragon is a dragon, so if you just practice a little, you’ll be able to use its breath, right?

“Didn’t we have a similar conversation last time? If I become a dragon, I won’t have to use you. Then you’ll be sealed by Ian again, right?”

-… … You write it by biting it with your mouth?

“Will you do it?”

Moreover, if it evolves into an Archlich or a Bone Dragon, the battle style itself will change.

If he were to evolve into the other two while making up for his lacking physical abilities with his skills, he might end up having to level up from the 4th floor instead of the 5th floor.

Hyunseong put his finger on [Skeleton King] without much hesitation.

[Evolution begins.]

I felt my body rise up along with the sound of a ding.

Crunch, crunch.

Crunch.

As Hyunseong quietly watched the changes taking place in his body while listening to the eerie sound, he was able to notice one thing.

Previously, I thought that when it evolved, it simply evolved into a skeleton more suited to learning martial arts, but it was subtly different from that.

‘It’s not something suitable for learning martial arts… It’s changing into what I think is the optimal skeleton.’

Even if Hyunseong practiced the Cheonma Shingong and changed it to suit himself, there were bound to be some parts that were lacking.

It’s a shame that if this had been like this, if that had been like that, it could have been more powerful.

However, through evolution, the parts that he had been regretting were now being resolved.

‘Not all evolution is the same.’

Just as nothing in the world is exactly the same, evolution was also slightly different for each individual.

Perhaps it will proceed in accordance with the image of strength that one has in mind.

It’s just that the difference is so subtle that I didn’t notice it until now.

‘I guess even Seol-ah didn’t know this.’

She probably hasn’t evolved either.

As he was observing the changes in his body with interest, the magical power that had been swelling as if it would explode at any moment began to subside.

[[Skeleton Lord] evolved into [Skeleton King].]

[Additional abilities are granted through evolution.]

Before checking the status window, Hyunseong started checking the changes that had occurred in his body.

“Hmm.”

Hyunseong exclaims in admiration while moving his finger bones.

I thought it was amazing when it evolved before, but this time it was even more amazing.

Because it literally had the most ideal skeleton in his mind.

Of course, the fact remains that the skeleton is inefficient because it only contains bones, even though it is ideal.

‘But, if it’s this…’

Wouldn’t it be possible to re-learn some parts of the Heavenly Demon Art that you gave up on because they didn’t suit you in the past?

Moreover, it wasn’t just the skeleton that had changed.

Not only did the force that bound the bones together become as hard as steel, but the flow of magical power also became smoother.

‘Except for the fact that my body is made of bones, I’m much better than when I was a Cheonma.’

Since the human body has its limits, if you try to store energy beyond its limit, it is inevitable that your body will become a burden.

However, the limits of his body now were far higher than when he was human.

If there was a body that fit this skeleton, wouldn’t that be the Cheonmujiche?

“The problem is that there is no body.”

-How about going up and picking up some decent monster flesh one by one to make a body?

“It’s not even Frankenstein. Besides, how can it be used as a body if you just patch it up? It’s just skin over bones.”

-You can just ask Ian to magically connect to you.

“…oh?”

It seemed like a plausible idea, but I soon shook my head.

I never wanted to go that far to get a body.

“Besides, the general evolution tree ends here, but there is more to it.”

-Would you like to walk there?

“Who knows? Maybe I’ll get a proper body then.”

As I was talking to Seol-ah like that, I realized that I had forgotten to check the status window.

Now that we’ve checked the exterior and interior, it’s time to check out the performance.

“Then let’s see how much it went up this time?”

Tiring.

[Name: Kim Hyun-seong.]

[Race: Skeleton King]

[Characteristic: None]

[Level:51]

[Strength: 31 (+6)]

[Stamina: 21 (+3)]

[Endurance: 23 (+2)]

[Agility: 23 (+2)]

[Magic Power: 26 (+4)]

[Points remaining: 6]

I found myself gritting my teeth at the sudden rise.

“Wow, it went up a lot.”

5 to strength, 3 to magic power, and 4 each to stamina, endurance, and agility.

In total, you’ve leveled up 20 levels.

– At this point, can I go straight to the 6th floor?

“I know.”

The rise was so great that I thought it would be okay to go to the 7th floor instead of the 6th.

Hyunseo looked around, wanting to test out her new body.

“Isn’t there a good monster to test on?”

Just wander around like that for a while.

Passing by a mountain spewing volcanic ash,

“?!”

Hyunseong felt a chill and quickly rolled to the side.

Dismissal.

Kwakwang!

Lightning shooting out from volcanic ash.

If I had been even a little late, I would have been hit directly.

“Before evolution, I would have turned into a lightning bone roast.”

-What? Is that something to eat?

“If you like bones, wouldn’t it taste like fire… no, maybe lightning?”

I was just joking, but it was a really dangerous situation.

Agility has only increased by 4 in terms of numbers, but the feeling is incredibly strong.

They say that the difference in ability level increases as you level up, but I didn’t expect it to be this much.

“But… I don’t think it was a coincidence that lightning struck.”

Volcanic ash rising, crackling and filled with lightning.

Seol-ah looked at it and rang the sword bell as if she knew what it was.

-Oh, is this his territory?

“That guy?”

-There are some that have only been discovered historically a few times, but are still difficult to deal with.

As if in response to her words, a storm rose and began to swirl the ash.

Pah, pah, pah, pah!!!

When I look at the static electricity that occurs so violently, I feel like I am looking at a giant thundercloud.

And then, in the midst of the storm, a great leader emerged.

“Keeeeeek!!”

A huge, gray bird revealed itself with a high-pitched roar that was almost ear-piercing.

It was a bird with a gorgeous appearance like the legendary Vermilion Bird or Phoenix, except that its entire body was covered in volcanic ash.

His entire body was covered in ash, but only his eyes were glowing red like blood.

“It looks annoying at first glance. What kind of monster is that guy?”

-There aren’t many of them found among humans, so there’s no official name. If you look at records somewhere, it’s said to be called the master of ashes.

“Wow, even the name itself seems like it has something to it.”

-The opponent has to look strong so that the victims can look better.

Hyunseong laughed without realizing it, his teeth chattering.

Aren’t they no different from the martial artists who gave themselves the name Mugeukchang because they didn’t want to admit that they were hit by a dirty martial arts technique called Mumyeongchang?

“Whether there or here, people live the same way.”

As he was muttering like that, the owner of the ashes began to move.

Phew!

A huge storm occurs as the wings spread, and fierce sparks come out from the body.

-What he’s wearing isn’t just ashes.

“Oh, you can tell just by looking at it.”

Pyroclastic flow.

A cloud of mixed gas, ash, smoke, and rock flowing from a volcano.

That’s why every time I moved, I got a strong static electricity.

The problem is-

‘That’s what they mean by shooting it out like lightning.’

Phage, phage, phage!!

With each flap of his wings, dozens of lightning bolts poured out toward him.

Dark red eyes glowing from inside the skull.

‘It’s visible.’

He held Seol-ah’s hand as he watched the lightning approaching him.

Hyunseong is the one who picks out only the things that will hit him exactly.

Heavenly Demon Sword Technique

Thunderstorm

‘I never thought that this herb would actually be used to send out lightning.’

Kwakwakwakwang!!!

Dozens of lightning bolts swept across the area.

Hyunseong mutters leisurely in the thick smoke.

“Ugh, I feel uneasy.”

Even though he was just a skeleton, it couldn’t have been a good feeling to be covered in dust all over his body.

As you go up, the monsters’ attacks become more intense, so you’ll often see dust like this.

“I’m glad I’m not breathing.”

It occurred to me that the Awakened’s lungs might not be in good condition from breathing in such thick dust every time they fought.

-I’m having another useless thought.

“So what? If you want to enjoy life, you have to waste time thinking about useless things like this.”

If you take everything seriously from beginning to end, you will quickly get tired and fall away.

Hyunseong muttered like that and looked at the owner of the house.

“Anyway, it’s the perfect guy to test after it evolves.”

I liked it even more because it wasn’t just a simple sandbag, but one that looked like it would be fun to fight with.

Hyunseong’s eyes glowed with red and his teeth chattered as if he was enjoying himself.

“Then let’s do it properly.”