Chapter 300: Chapter 296 – The New Path of the Mortifera
Outside, the underworld roared from Persephone’s arrival. But inside the cocoon, none of that could be heard.
What existed was only gentle darkness, an endless, silent space where sound vanished and ti halted. Sylvia stood alone within it, her form like a translucent shadow, not her physical body but the shape of her soul, glowing faintly with the light of death.
Around her, strands of purple, black, and blue light drifted slowly like living rivers. All of them flowed toward a single point before her.
An evolution panel.
Unlike before, the panel wasn’t filled with options. Only one large box sat at the center, gleaming like living obsidian.
Sylvia approached it slowly.
Letters appeared, shining softly:
.....
[Evolution Route: Mortifera]
Race: Mortifera – Primordial Death Entity
Description:
"A true core-being of death, bearer of the final law, guide of souls, and the living embodint of the void."
Evolution Effects:
– All stats × 3
– INT × 5
– LUK unchanged
– All elents converted into Death-type
– Identity ’Zombie’ upgraded to ’Primordial Undead’
.....
Sylvia stared for a long mont.
"...Mortifera? Not even a normal undead anymore..."
No vampire.
No ghoul.
No zombie variant like before.
All previous routes were gone.
Only one path remained... a path with no branches, no alternatives.
"SYSTEM... you’re really forcing
here, huh?" Sylvia sighed.
She wanted to laugh, yet no sound ca from her soul-form. She simply lifted her hand and touched the panel.
The mont her soul-finger brushed the word "Mortifera," the panel lit up brightly as if welcoming its rightful master. But before a confirmation appeared, two other lights approached from afar.
Blue and violet.
The lights converged and morphed into two figures Sylvia knew all too well.
Alicia and Stacia.
Although their physical bodies slept in their cocoons, their souls manifested here, in the evolution dinsion.
Alicia floated like a soft blue orb. Her soul-body looked like a glowing mist. Her expression was bright.
"Sylvia~! You’ve seen the option?"
Her voice echoed like rippling water.
Sylvia nodded. "Looks like... I have no other choice."
Stacia, her soul-body glowing a soft pale violet, appeared on the other side. Her expression was calr than Alicia’s, but her eyes shone with curiosity.
"Say the na again. I want to make sure I heard correctly."
"Mortifera," Sylvia replied.
Alicia and Stacia exchanged looks.
Alicia raised her ’brow’ or whatever part of her soul mimicked that expression.
"That sounds... intense."
Stacia nodded. "And it sounds like sothing beyond the hierarchy of all undead races..."
"Yeah," Sylvia gave a small smile. "And I have to take it."
Alicia floated closer, her blue light swirling around Sylvia like a joyful fla.
"If that’s what appeared... then it’s the route most suited for you!"
"Still... it’s sowhat frightening," Stacia murmured. "I’m only worried that after this evolution, your aura will be too overwhelming to control."
Sylvia reached out and touched Stacia’s head or the soul-shape representing it. The violet light trembled gently, like a cat being hugged. Even though Stacia was the elder sister, her small loli-like figure made Sylvia struggle to take her seriously. But they were triplets in truth: Stacia the eldest, Alicia the second, and Sylvia the youngest.
"I’ll be fine. But what about you two? What choices did you get?"
Alicia’s light flared excitedly.
"My evolution options... are actually a lot!" she chirped. "There’s Specter Queen, Soul Harpy, Phantom Sage, Nether Bride..."
Sylvia blinked. "Nether Bride? What even is that?"
"No idea! But the illustration is pretty!" Alicia laughed.
Stacia massaged her temple. "Alicia... focus."
"Oh, right!" Alicia’s light softened into a calm blue. "I’ve already chosen."
Sylvia raised a brow. "What did you pick?"
Alicia stopped floating for a mont, her soul-body shifting into a serene pale blue.
"I chose the race... Aether Spectra."
Sylvia repeated softly. "Aether... Spectra?"
Alicia nodded eagerly.
"It’s a high-tier race focused on soul magic. All my physical abilities will disappear and my physical body will cease to exist... I will completely transform into a pure soul entity."
Sylvia fell silent.
"Alicia... are you sure?"
Alicia floated forward and pressed her soul-forehead against Sylvia’s. The blue light was warm.
"Of course. If you beco Mortifera... we need soone who understands and touches the soul from the other side."
Sylvia held Alicia’s glowing cheeks.
"...even if you lose your body?"
"Fufu, Sylvia," Alicia smiled softly. "I already died once and my body was possessed by you, rember? I’ve been without a physical body before."
Sylvia didn’t respond.
Stacia drifted near them, her violet glow gentle.
"I’ve chosen mine too."
Sylvia looked toward her. "What did you choose?"
Stacia inhaled or mimicked the motion.
"One of my options... was Fallen Seraph."
Sylvia froze. "...a fallen angel?"
Stacia nodded.
"That race suits my magic buffs, light-shadow dominance, and ntal fortification. The fallen seraph aura offers unique stability... and so advantages against chaos penetration."
Alicia spun in excitent. "Stacia’s becoming a fallen angel! Cool!"
"Don’t mock ." Stacia pushed Alicia lightly.
Sylvia studied them both for a long mont. "You’re really sure about these routes?"
Alicia and Stacia exchanged a look then smiled in unison.
"If it helps us synchronize better," Alicia said,
"...why not?"
Stacia added, "Besides, no matter what happens... we share one soul."
Sylvia’s smile deepened. Her heart felt warm in the darkness of evolution.
"All right."
She lifted her hand toward the two panels that appeared for Alicia and Stacia.
"I’ll confirm them for you."
Alicia held Sylvia’s hand even though they were just light.
"I’ll leave it to you."
Stacia placed her hand atop theirs.
"Choose."
Sylvia pressed each panel.
[Confirm Alicia → Aether Spectra?]
→ Yes.
[Confirm Stacia → Fallen Seraph?]
→ Yes.
The mont she confird...
BUMM!
A massive tremor struck the evolution space.
Alicia’s blue light burst into a whirling soul-storm, while Stacia’s violet glow extended into the silhouette of huge wings.
The three of them were pulled upward by gravitational force.
Sylvia felt her soul-body dragged back into her cocoon like a giant hand pulling her inward. Alicia and Stacia were caught in the sa pull.
The energy around them surged wildly.
"The energy... isn’t enough!" Stacia yelled.
Alicia’s soul flickered. "Sothing is draining our evolution engines too fast!"
A system panel appeared before Sylvia.
[Insufficient Energy for Triple Synchronized Evolution]
[Underworld Resource: 14%... 10%... 7%...]
[Energy deficit: Critical]
Sylvia gritted her teeth. "Damn it... if this continues, evolution will fail."
Alicia trembled, her blue form flickering. "I... can’t stabilize..."
Stacia supported Sylvia from the side. "Sothing’s missing... sothing needed to unify our evolution..."
Suddenly...
Sothing touched them.
Not a hand.
Not violent energy.
Not overwhelming pressure.
But... a gentle touch, Warm, Calm and Motherly.
Like soone draping a warm blanket over them, stroking their heads softly, cupping their cheeks with tender affection.
Alicia froze. Her light trembled.
"...What... is this feeling...?"
Stacia closed her eyes. "Like... an embrace..."
And Sylvia felt it even stronger.
Not Belial.
Not Lumielle.
Not Seere.
This energy ca from outside the dinsion. From sowhere else. From soone... powerful. But gentle.
Soone who watched over them with indescribable affection. A shapeless voice echoed gently within the evolution space.
"Sleep, my daughters."
Alicia imdiately went quiet. Stacia slowly closed her eyes. And Sylvia, normally the hardest to soothe, felt her soul relaxing under that touch.
"G-Goddess... Persephone..." Sylvia whispered.
The voice only laughed softly.
"Rest, little ones. Your evolution will not fail. I will fill the missing energy."
Alicia was the first to fall asleep, her blue light shrinking, then stabilizing.
Stacia followed, her violet glow wrapping around herself as if curling into peaceful rest.
Sylvia tried to resist... but the evolutionary drowsiness was too strong. Her eyes closed slowly.
She felt a hand holding hers.
Warm.
Gentle.
As though soone who had watched them from the very beginning... was finally touching them.
Then everything went dark. The three of them sank into evolutionary slumber. And outside Persephone smiled softly at the cocoons glowing brighter than before.
"Good night, my daughters."
---
On the 1st floor, Baal felt the surge long before he understood it. The pressure descending from the heights of the underworld was so ancient, so dense, that the entire throne chamber shook as though about to collapse.
Baal rose sharply, his horns trembling.
"What is this...? This isn’t Belial. Not even one of the 72 High Demons..."
His voice cracked.
The energy didn’t attack, didn’t move, didn’t spread to the 1st floor. But its re existence was enough to make Baal feel sothing he hadn’t felt in millennia:
Fear.
If an entity stronger and older than him had entered the underworld, then...
"My throne..." he whispered. "Don’t tell
soone ca to take it..."
THUD!
He stood and grabbed the massive spear mounted behind his throne. The entire floor shook as he activated ergency magic, summoning his dormant demon legions.
Underworld alarm bells rang.
Demon soldiers poured from massive stone gates, fully ard. So bared fangs, so leapt into battle stances, others tried to sense the threat.
Baal raised his hand.
"Prepare yourselves! If anyone dares seize the underworld’s throne we fight to the death!"
But no attack ca. No movent. No threat.
Persephone standing on the 68th floor didn’t even glance downward. She had zero interest in Baal’s underworld. To her, his realm was nothing more than a tiny fragnt of death’s vast domains.
Baal did not know this. And his ignorance only deepened his panic.
---
anwhile, far away on the 45th floor...
Sofia lay on a creaky wooden bed inside a worn-out inn room. The small chamber was quiet, lit only by a dim oil lamp.
She had disguised herself completely as a demon. Her hair darkened by magic, her eyes given a faint red illusion, and the most notable detail short demon horns attached to her head, harvested from a demon corpse she found days ago.
All to blend in.
But when she turned to get comfortable...
THUMP.
Sothing slamd into her consciousness. Not a physical attack.
An existence.
Sofia froze.
"W-What... is... this..." she whispered.
That aura... was unbelievably strong. Like unseen eyes judging her from afar. An aura piercing her skin, bones, even her mories. And worse... it felt a little familiar.
"...Similar..." She bit her lip.
"...similar to Goddess Hestia."
But not the sa.
If Hestia was warm, bright, comforting like a ho this aura was...
Dark. Gentle, yet terrifying. Deep, ancient, carrying a sense of absolute authority. Not sunlight, not holy fire.
But eternal night loving, yet judging.
Sofia’s whole body trembled. She clutched her chest, feeling her heartbeat spike.
"I-Is that entity... judging ...?" she whispered.
She didn’t know.
But clearly the aura was observing her, weighing her, considering her. And then it vanished.
Sofia exhaled sharply, breath shaking.
"Haaah... I almost died standing there..."
Cold sweat dripped down her temple. She stared at the ceiling, face still pale.
"Whoever that was... I hope I never et them directly..."
She pulled the blanket close, hugging it tightly as she tried to sleep again. But the chill of that mysterious aura lingered on her back as though the entity had rembered her. Or perhaps... marked her.
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