Chapter 356 Precursor’s Aide (1)

Fear flashed in Jacklin's eyes. He had not expected Ashton to get so stronger in just a month. On top of that, they had used every underhanded trick they could to put brawlers in a better place by restricting the use of abilities and still... Ashton was overcoming the difficulties like it was no one's business.

Jacklin wasn't the only one surprised. Darjud was staring at the strange creature with worried looks. His smirk was long gone. Not only did Ashton kill his elite fighters even while he was at a disadvantageous position, but he also rivalled Jacklin? How could someone as strong as him only classify as E-grade?

'The bastard has fooled us all. He is C-grade at the very least!' Darjud sighed and prepared for his turn to come, 'I still have to honour the tradition of my master. Until Jacklin is killed by him, I cannot attack him.'

Nove l B(in).C OM

As for Anna and Otiga, they managed to regain some of their mobility as the drug slowly wore off. They wanted to help Ashton take care of the monarchs, but before they could even stand, a hole was blown through Jacklin's chest.

"Ugh..." That was the last sound Jacklin made as he met his demise.

Just like that, Jacklin had fallen. No drama. No forgiveness. Nothing. Ashton did not give him any chance to blame someone or try an weasel his way out of the mess. Otiga was stunned to see a fellow monarch... one of the strongest on the planet fall like any other mortal being. She had severely underestimated Ashton's strength.

What she did not know was... Ashton could only do so because of his Draconic Physique. Had it not been for that, Jacklin's attacks would have made a mess of his organs. In other words, Ashton was the worst match-up for any brawler until and unless they were strong enough to one-shot him.

Nove l B(in).C OM

Everyone was so busy staring at the dead monarch, that they did not notice Ashton gobble down Jacklin's heart. He did it... he was finally on the verge of another breakthrough. This time... his evolution was going to be world-breaking.

__

Congratulations on taking your second step into becoming a god-like entity.

Please wait while we assess the required information before presenting you with various evolutionary paths.

Current race: Human-based Tribrid (Former), Carbon-based Space Farer (Current).

Genes Possessed: Human, Vampire, Undead, Werewolf, Xyran-human hybrid.

Current resistances: [Pain Resistance lvl 29], [Fire Immunity], [Cold Resistance lvl 19], [Poison Immunity], [Paralysis Resistance lvl 20], [Hemorrhage Resistance lvl 25], [Charm Resistance lvl 22], [Fear Resistance lvl 25], [Pertification Resistance lvl 16], [Stun Resistance lvl 23].

Current Classes: [Necromancer] (Mediocre), [Revenger] (Mediocre), [Blood Mage] (Mediocre), Cinder Soul (Newbie).

Generating evolutionary paths based on the host's existing genes, resistances and classes.

You can now view and select an evolution tree and obtain a new subclass based on your affinity towards classes and genes of your own.

Note: Once you select an evolution path, you won't be allowed to change it. Please make your choice after careful deliberation.

Please select one of the following paths:

? Carbon-based Space Farer (Tier: 2)

? War God's Disciple (Tier: 3)

? Pyro-Flamel (Tier: 2)

? Primordial Dragoon (Tier: 2)

? Precursor's Aide (Tier: 3)

__

Ashton had to hurriedly make a decision. Jacklin had fallen, now it was Darjud's turn to fight him. He had seen Ashton fight, so it wasn't like Darjud was going to give him time to recuperate. Sadly, that also meant he would have to fight through the pain of evolution while fighting someone as strong as Darjud.

Ashton remembered the pain he had faced during evolving for the first time. Back then, Astaroth had told him every time he evolves, he will suffer through hellish pain. This time wasn't going to be any different either. His body will go through changes, and he'll have to fight through it all... or die.

'It's a battle of time.' Ashton thought to himself, 'Either Darjud will finish me before I can evolve, or I'll end him the moment I'm done evolving.'

[There's no other way.]

Ashton nodded and selected the last option without any hesitation. Anything related to the precursors was a definite choice. Since he was a human, obtaining any precursor class was a blessing.

<All the skill effects have been deactivated till the evolution is completed.>

<All of the resistances have been deactivated till the evolution is completed.>

<This is to avoid any unnecessary complications during the reformation of the host's body.>

<Proceeding with evolution in... 3... 2... 1...>

The following moment he fell to his knees. The evolutionary process had just begun but the pain was already too much for him to handle. Without his pain resistance... the pain consumed his head. If it hadn't been for Astaroth continuously yelling his ass off in his brain, he would have already lost consciousness.

Watching him fall to his knees came as a surprise to Darjud. In his mind, Ashton had abused his transformation for longer than he should have. As a result, his body was finally giving out.

"Huhu... HAHAHA!" Darjud laughed like a maniac, "It's a pity to see you fall now. You tried so hard and got so far. But in the end, it didn't even matter."

Leon too joined in and laughed, while not a single word had escaped his sewer of a mouth when Ashton was slaughtering the guards. He was confident Ashton was going to die by himself. So much so, that he decided to toss a wild idea...

"Sir, why don't you leave him to me? He's going to die, either way, let me do the honours of sending him to the afterlife. In the meantime," Leon pointed at Anna, "Why don't you have some fun with her? After all, a sedated succubus is too delicious of a dish to pass on..."

"Is that how I raised you, bastard!?" Otiga yelled at Leon for even suggesting such a thing, "Is that the kind of legacy left behind by the Zhasks?"

"You want to act righteously now?" Leon laughed sarcastically, "You of all people should know why I did what I did. After all, you're the one who taught me to seize an opportunity when you see one. That's all I did. I saw an opportunity to rule over the family and I took it! If anything, you should be proud of me."

"Enough!" Darjud closed his eyes and thought about Leon's proposal for a moment, "Fine. You can kill the shit, but you'll owe me, boy. Don't ever forget that."

"Of course, sir. I'll put all of the family's resources to do whatever you ask of me." Leon smirked before jumping into the bloody pit, he then proceeded to grasp Ashton's hair before kneeing him in the face, "This is for humiliating me a month ago..."

Ashton's nose shattered with the blow, but the attacks kept coming. Ashton had turned into a defenceless punching bag for Leon. Every blow he received was followed by a few words, informing him why he was getting assaulted.

[Ugh... so cringe... just kill me already.]

Ashton couldn't talk, so Astaroth expressed both of their thoughts like that.

Leon was honestly having the time of of his life... until a huge shockwave was sent out of Ashton's body, knocking him over. Darjud who was about to touch Anna was flung away as well. Bewildered he turned around to face Ashton, who happened to be standing back on his feet.

It was at that moment, Darjud realised what had happened. Everything... from the gauntlet duel to his last fight. All of it was what Ashton wanted. He did not fall to his knees because he did not have energy left to fight back, but merely reacted to the pain his body had to go through in order for him to evolve.

Darjud thought he was in control, when in reality, he was getting played by Ashton. Every single thing he did, was exactly as Ashton had planned. Not to mention, when Leon mentioned the succubus, Ashton should have shown some signs of anger, but he didn't.

"That bastard wanted me to leave him alone, so he could evolve without dying!" Darjud gritted his teeth, "How could I fall for such obvious trick?"

He made a rookie mistake by trusting Leon's word... no, he couldn't have possibly been swayed by just his words, could he? He had heard rumours about Leon's ability but never got to test it himself. It could be possible Darjud had been manipulating him all along and he didn't even notice it.

N0 v el Next. CoM

"You bastard! You played me like a fool!" Darjud bellowed and rushed to finish Leon.

But before he could lay a finger on Leon, Ashton quite literally teleported between them, "The duel is still on, right?"

"You cocky bastard. You think a mere evolution gave you enough strength to beat me?" Darjud scoffed, "Step aside, I'll deal with you after I'm done with that bastard."

"Not enough strength you say..." Ashton enotionlessly mumbled before ripping Darjud's hand off, the same one he was about to touch Anna with, "This... would make a nice club to beat you senselessly."