Monster Evolution System: I became a Rat-Chapter 109: Lich Zero

Josan took the shortest route to the place where he could sense faint traces of the reverse whirlpool.

’Can it even return us to the Mist City? ’ He wondered, doubting whether the whirlpool was truly a reverse portal.

But he was not entirely out of options if this attempt failed.

Without delay, he blinked forward. Purple flames burst around him as he reached the whirlpool and tried to force his way through it.

The reverse current was overwhelming.

His body and spirit were hurled backward, shoved violently into the water. No matter how much he struggled, he failed to advance even an inch.

The force of the whirlpool was absolute, crushing and relentless. At his weakened state, it was far too much for him to handle. Yet Josan was certain that even in his prime, he would still have been unable to pass through it.

From afar, Lopis watched in silence.

He did not speak. Solemn and unmoving, his presence seemed to reverberate through the tomb like a distant echo of dawn long extinguished.

Josan finally abandoned his attempts and walked back toward Lopis.

When he was only a meter away, he said, "We will have to take the long route."

Lopis nodded in agreement.

"Use your Ananta and take us to the island," Lopis said, his voice solemn, his expression distant. There was a strange sense of belonging in his tone, as though the island held something important to him.

Josan hesitated, clearly taken aback. He let out a quiet sigh before replying, "I cannot use Ananta for long-distance travel. There is another who wields Ananta as well. If I use it, he may track me down. In my weakened state, he would certainly prevail."

Lopis’ expression narrowed. "There is another user?"

"Yes," Josan answered, his voice equally solemn.

Lopis nodded slowly to himself and turned toward the inner depths of the tomb. Perhaps even he was unsettled by the revelation that Ananta now had two bearers.

Now that Lopis had taken the lead, Josan followed behind him, his boots scraping faintly against the stone.

"Why did the Hollow Knights turn to the Dawn God?" Josan asked.

Lopis’ shoulders stiffened at the question. "Do not ask unnecessary questions. A god’s will is not something a mortal can comprehend."

Josan scoffed. "If not for Kingston Nowill’s greed, the gods would have long been slain. Your gods are not almighty."

Lopis stopped walking.

He turned his head slightly, his decayed features tightening. "You take this matter too lightly, servant of the Dream God."

He paused, his voice lowering.

"Or should I say, the Dark Messiah’s personal dogs."

Josan burst into laughter, the sound echoing harshly through the corridor. "I never thought I would hear a hero speak like that. It truly shows how wrong I was about you."

Lopis did not reply. He resumed walking.

After a moment, Josan managed to control his laughter. His voice turned solemn, almost grim. "With the Dream God fallen, who would not turn to Him?"

Lopis chose silence again.

Ahead of them, pale light filtered through the iron-barred gate. The air shifted, carrying with it the scent of salt and distant wind.

They were nearing the exit.

Nearing the outside world.

"Lich Zero!" Josan exclaimed.

Lopis turned toward him, his expression perplexed.

Seeing that look, Josan continued, "Lich Zero was the first to fall after the Sculptor entered the Dark Ages. He was the one who created the Hollow Knights. So tell me, after Lich Zero died, did the Hollow Knights somehow retain their forms? And then you guided them toward a false victory?"

Lopis’ gaze hardened. "A false victory is not something that can replace the End of Fate."

Josan smiled faintly. "That is something I intend to find out. Perhaps it can." He raised an eyebrow at Lopis.

Annoyed, Lopis turned his attention toward the pale light ahead.

The iron-barred gate stood partially open now, wind slipping through it in thin, restless streams.

"We will have to fight," Lopis said calmly. "It seems something has compelled adventurers to guard the exit."

Josan gave a faint nod in return.

Then, instead of flicking his fingers, he flicked his wrist.

The purple flame that burst forth was different this time. Larger. Denser. It did not scatter like ordinary fire. It folded inward, gathering shape.

From within the blaze, something emerged.

A coiled wyvern tore itself free from the flames. Its scales were dark violet, gleaming with a sheen that twisted the mind. To stare at it for more than a few seconds without blinking was to feel one’s thoughts bend and fracture.

The air grew heavy.

Lopis let out a dry laugh. "You summon an abyssal wyvern. How am I supposed to assist you now?"

Josan did not look back. His voice was stern as he stepped forward. "By waiting."

With a sharp gesture, he sent the wyvern surging ahead.

It crashed through the iron gate, shattering what remained of it, and descended upon the guards clustered beyond. The corridor erupted in violet fire. Stone melted. Steel warped.

Several adventurers were caught too close.

They did not even have time to scream before the pulverizing flames swallowed them whole.

Two others sensed the attack at the last instant. They raised their guards, crossing blade and shield before the impact struck. The wyvern’s fire engulfed them, lifting them off their feet.

They were thrown aside, armor scorched, cloaks ablaze.

Yet they lived.

Their shields cracked. Their swords half-melted. But they rolled across the stone and rose again, coughing, eyes wide but resolute.

The wyvern circled once above them, wings spreading wide enough to blot out the pale light from beyond the exit.

Josan stepped through the burning threshold.

"Impressive," he murmured, watching the two surviving adventurers steady themselves despite the abyssal flames.

Behind him, Lopis walked slowly through the smoke, dawn-light flickering faintly around his decayed frame.

The wyvern lowered its head.

The surviving adventurers tightened their grip.

"Burn!" Josan barked.

The wyvern opened its jaws.

From deep within its flaming glands, abyssal fire poured forth in a concentrated torrent, drowning the two adventurers in violent violet light. The air shrieked as the flames consumed not only flesh, but essence.

One of the adventurers desperately raised an artifact. A translucent barrier formed around him, shimmering with pale runes.

The shield held for a fraction of a second.

Then the abyssal fire touched it.

The barrier blackened.

Cracks spread across its surface like veins. The artifact itself began to melt within the conjured shield, its runes warping, its glow turning dim and sickly.

"Magus Dene’s Shield... how impressive," Josan mocked coldly as he watched it burn.

The shield shattered.

The artifact dissolved into molten fragments before disintegrating entirely.

The adventurer’s scream was brief.

When the flames receded, nothing remained but scorched stone and drifting ash.

The wyvern lifted its head slowly, smoke curling from its fangs.

"What is the name of your little monster?" Lopis asked as he walked behind him and stepped out through the scorched exit.

Under the pale light of the outside world, his scrawny frame appeared even weaker, more brittle, as though the sun itself might reduce him to dust.

"Cockroach," Josan said as he flicked his wrist, dismissing the wyvern. The abyssal flames collapsed inward and vanished. "Elegant, is it not?"

Lopis’ eyes narrowed. "The Great Humorous Sea has grown far more dangerous since your time. We should take a ship from Vermis."

He paused, then asked, "What is the name of the other Ananta user?"

"Rosacer," Josan replied without emotion. "That is what he calls himself. I am certain he is not the same Demon Hunter from Gordon’s prison."

Lopis did not press further. Instead, he continued walking toward the forest line ahead.

"It is not polite to eavesdrop on others’ conversations," he said calmly.

The moment those words left his mouth, the forest trembled violently. Branches shook. Leaves scattered in sudden spirals. Then, just as abruptly, everything fell silent.

Josan’s gaze shifted toward the deeper shadows between the trees.

"She served the previous ruler of the Southern Sector," he said quietly. "Ms. Opelia... I believe her name was Fern."

"The one Elizabeth killed?" Lopis asked, his eyes glinting faintly.

"Yes," Josan replied in a solemn voice.

"Let us move. The adventurers will soon come hunting us," Lopis said, quickening his pace.

Josan nodded and followed, hastening his steps as they moved deeper into the dark forest.

"That Rosacer... it seems he was unnamed until he entered the Mist City," Lopis observed as they walked beneath the thick canopy.

"Yes, it appears so," Josan said. "Then he is not human."

Lopis shook his head slightly. "He may have encountered the real Rosacer and taken his name as his own, either by killing him or scavenging it from his corpse."

Josan shared his train of thought. "Most likely, it happened outside, somewhere in the vicinity of the Mist City. Perhaps the real Rosacer succumbed to the Blackened Sun Emperor Knight. Then that monster encountered his corpse and took his identity."

"Yeah, that seems to be the case," Lopis said. "Perhaps the Mistborn are involved as well. It does not change the fact that the real one is dead."

Josan nodded.