The instant Kael's fingers touched the third option, the world disappeared.
The cavern.
The shattered pillars.
The bloodstained ground.
Everything dissolved into darkness.
This darkness, however, was unlike the one he had encountered before. It wasn't empty. It felt alive, vast beyond imagination, as though every star in existence had been swallowed into an endless sea.
Kael floated without a body, without weight, surrounded by silence.
Then the silence broke.
One by one, enormous golden chains appeared, stretching across the void. Each chain was thicker than a mountain, covered in countless ancient runes that glowed with divine light.
They converged toward a single point.
A colossal throne.
It was impossible to tell how large it truly was. Even from an unimaginable distance, it dominated the endless darkness like the center of creation itself.
The throne was empty.
Yet Kael could feel an overwhelming presence lingering upon it.
Ancient.
Supreme.
Beyond comprehension.
A voice echoed through the void.
Not loud.
Not soft.
It simply existed.
"A successor has finally arrived."
Kael instinctively looked around.
"Who's there?"
No answer came.
Instead, another voice followed.
This one carried countless tones at once, as if millions of beings were speaking together.
"The Infinite Evolution System acknowledges the Host."
"Authorization..."
"...Confirmed."
The golden chains surrounding the throne began to crack.
Tiny fractures spread across them before disappearing.
Another notification appeared before Kael.
Unique Evolution Confirmed.
Evolution Name: Void Sovereign Candidate
Classification: Hidden
Rarity: Beyond Mythic
Kael frowned.
"Candidate?"
The System answered.
Current Host lacks qualifications for Sovereign status.
Temporary Evolution Granted.
Another panel unfolded.
Evolution: Void Sovereign Candidate
Description:
A forgotten path that transcends ordinary evolution. Unlike conventional races, the Host possesses limitless evolutionary potential. Every future evolution will be determined by the Host's choices, achievements, and Authority.
Current Bonuses:
• All Attributes +10
• Void Energy Absorption increased by 200%
• Regeneration upgraded to Intermediate
• Scan upgraded to Void Insight
• New Skill Acquired: Void Sense
Kael's eyes widened.
Before he could process everything, unbearable pain erupted throughout his body.
He screamed.
Dark energy poured from every direction, surrounding him like a hurricane.
His bones shattered.
Reformed.
Shattered again.
His muscles expanded before compressing into denser fibers.
Every drop of blood within his body seemed to ignite.
The pain surpassed anything he had experienced after falling into the Abyss.
Minutes passed.
Or perhaps hours.
Time had become meaningless.
Finally...
The storm subsided.
Kael slowly opened his eyes.
He was back inside the ruined cavern.
The first thing he noticed was his breathing.
It felt...
Different.
Lighter.
His body no longer felt heavy.
He slowly stood.
Every movement was effortless.
His wounds had completely disappeared.
Not a single scar remained.
A notification appeared.
Evolution Complete.
Host Status
Name: Kael Draven
Race: Void Sovereign Candidate
Realm: F-Rank Hunter
Strength: 18
Agility: 18
Vitality: 20
Soul: 19
Void Energy: 163
Evolution Stage: First Evolution
Kael stared at the screen in disbelief.
"I'm... no longer human?"
The System answered after a brief pause.
Host remains biologically human.
Evolution affects Origin rather than Species.
"Origin..."
Kael repeated the unfamiliar word.
Before he could ask another question, something strange happened.
He could hear it.
Tiny sounds.
Water dripping nearly a hundred meters away.
The movement of insects beneath loose rocks.
The faint heartbeat of a creature somewhere deep within the tunnels.
His senses had expanded dramatically.
"So this is Void Sense..."
Curious, Kael closed his eyes.
Instead of darkness, countless streams of black energy appeared in his mind.
Every living creature emitted a faint glow.
The farther away they were, the dimmer they became.
One glow immediately caught his attention.
Massive.
Far larger than the Void Fang Alpha.
It was moving.
Toward him.
Kael's eyes snapped open.
"System."
"Void Insight."
His vision changed instantly.
The stone walls around him became translucent, revealing a gigantic creature several hundred meters away.
It crawled across the cavern ceiling like a monstrous spider.
Six enormous legs.
A body covered in black crystal.
A maw filled with rows of jagged teeth.
Its many crimson eyes suddenly turned toward Kael.
It had sensed him.
A notification appeared.
Crystal Devourer
Rank: D
Status: Hungry
Threat Assessment: Lethal
Estimated Survival Probability: 4.8%
Kael's expression became serious.
He had just grown stronger.
But he was still far from invincible.
The monstrous creature let out a piercing screech that echoed through every tunnel in the Abyss.
Chunks of rock fell from the ceiling.
The hunt had begun.
Kael looked toward three branching tunnels leading away from the ruined chamber.
One descended deeper into darkness.
Another followed an underground river.
The third sloped upward, where a faint current of fresh air drifted through the passage.
He didn't hesitate.
The path upward.
If there was even the slightest chance it led closer to the surface, he had to take it.
The Crystal Devourer crashed through the ceiling behind him, scattering boulders in every direction.
Kael burst into a sprint.
The world blurred around him.
His newly evolved body moved with astonishing speed as he raced into the tunnel, the monster's deafening roar shaking the Abyss behind him.
For the first time since awakening the Infinite Evolution System...
He was no longer running as prey.
He was running to survive long enough to become something the Abyss itself would one day fear.