Chapter 25: Silent Evolution
The air was cold—unnaturally cold. Ji-ho stood still, his red pupils glowing faintly beneath the pale moonlight. Blood dripped from his fingertips, not his own, but from the fallen elite awakened who now lay scattered across the ruined alleyway. The battle had been brutal, but it was nothing compared to what came after.
His body tingled.
No… it changed.
The moment the enemy's life faded, something began shifting within Ji-ho. A swirling torrent of poison energy he hadn't absorbed but had earned began coursing through his veins—an aura, acidic and corrosive, spreading from his back like flickering flames of green and black. It didn't burn him. It strengthened him.
His evolution trait awakened again.
[STATUS UPDATE]
Strength: AA
Agility: AA
Stamina: AA
Willpower: ???
Super Power: Destructive Ray (Evolved)
→ Capable of forming mid-air ray strikes with thought.
→ Adaptive transformation into bladed forms.
→ Infused with Destructive Poison Aura.
→ Target-lock mechanism enhanced.
→ Gains "Poison Resistance" (Advanced).
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His skin was smoother now, almost unscarred. His body had grown slightly taller and more defined. His aura pulsed with a quiet hum, one that would have driven lesser awakened mad just by being near it.
Ye-jun stood behind him, silently watching his brother. "You've changed again," he said softly.
Ji-ho nodded. "He was strong. Not smart, but strong enough to force another evolution."
"But… Ji-ho," Ye-jun whispered, eyes darting to the corpses behind them, "your powers—they're changing you. You didn't hesitate. Not even once."
Ji-ho looked down at his bloodied hands. "I gave them mercy compared to what they've done to others. If that's what monsters do—then I'm fine being one."
He turned away and began walking into the deeper parts of the ruined city, where another base of the association hid. Each step resonated with power. Not stolen. Not borrowed. Earned.
---
That night, Ji-ho dreamt of the Devil again.
The pendant glowed from his chest and dragged him into a void-like space. There, on the throne of shadows, the Devil smirked.
"You're starting to taste it, aren't you? Power. Rage. Evolution."
Ji-ho narrowed his eyes. "I'm using your gift. That doesn't mean I accept your offer."
"Gift?" The Devil chuckled. "No, Ji-ho. This isn't a gift. This is a path. Every kill you make, every soul you force to fade—your body rewrites itself to survive it. You're not just killing… you're ascending."
Ji-ho clenched his fists. "As long as it leads me to those who destroyed my family, I'll continue walking it—even if it burns me alive."
The Devil's grin widened. "Good. Because the Fourth Chair waits."
---
Outside the dream, the world was moving. The Association was stirring. Word of the "Demon of Poison and Light" had started to spread among underground awakened networks. Some ran. Some hunted. Most just feared.
But one man—a towering figure cloaked in red and silver—stood still at the rooftop of a building in Eastern Seoul. His skin was pale green. Veins bulged with liquid toxins. His left eye was replaced by a venom crystal.
The Fourth had been notified.
And he smiled. "So, the little cub's coming for me next…"
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