Chapter 53: The most evil thing
Azarex’s egg started shaking when the one hour mark had passed, and the crew assembled around it to celebrate the fourth and last member of the crew reaching the 2nd Tier.
After a minute or two of trembling, Azarex emerged from the egg. From the size of the egg that was continually growing during evolution. Dhruv had already suspected that Azarex would also be the same height as him.
His suspicion proved to be right when he laid eyes on Azarex’s final form after the evolution. Azarex, now stood at a height of 1.70 meters, featuring the same diamond-shaped crystal in his skull. However, there were two noticeable changes that stood out this time. The first, and perhaps most striking, was his skeleton’s color transformation from white to black—still not entirely black but rather a shade of gray on its path to becoming fully black.
’It will likely turn completely black when he upgrades his mutation,’ Dhruv thought.
The second change is something that didn’t exist before the evolution. There’s a black spherical core of 20cm diameter, embedded just beneath his ribs and connected with the spines. It occasionally gives off a glow, resembling a secondary core.
’This must be the organ he gained as a reward from this evolution,’ Dhruv speculated. Driven by curiosity, he checked Azarex’s status. To his astonishment, he discovered the rank of his evolution is of ’Rare rank’.
However, the surprise didn’t linger; it swiftly turned into a feeling of closeness, and Dhruv felt tears welling up. ’Come on, my friend. We’re the only normal ones in this group. Well, we’re not exactly normal either, but compared to them...’ Dhruv’s face lit up with a joyful grin as he dismissed Azarex so he could talk with his siblings.
However, instead of heading towards his siblings, Azarex started moving towards the pile of corpses. Understanding his intention, he bagan to walk alongside him. Knowing that he needed to assist Azarex in his own way by transforming the undead from normal to mega.
Upon reaching the pile of corpses, Azarex cast a spell. A shiver ran down Dhruv’s spine as he saw black smoke emerge from Azarex’s mouth, enshrouding the lifeless bodies of the monsters. The reason for his unease was that this spell was almost identical to the one the Warden had employed during their battle, which had resurrected two hundred men.
’Could this mean Azarex has the ability to control the same number of undead? No, even better, the same number of Mega Undead.’ Dhruv’s excitement reached the moon as he entertained the thought that the upcoming battle could potentially become much easier if that were the case.
His wish was on the edge of being fulfilled as all the corpses covered in the dark smoke began to rise from the dead. Judging by the scene, it seemed that the numbers might easily reach two hundred. No, Dhruv suspected that they were close to three hundred.
Realizing it was his turn, Dhruv stepped forward to initiate the Fusion process. However, before starting, he wanted to clarify something. So,he turned around to face Azarex and asked, "Azarex, is there any way to give them their own consciousness so they can think independently?"
If that were to happen, the potential of those Undead would increase exponentially, not just in battle but in every other field. It would help address the shortage of workforce; for example, there isn’t any place for them to stay on this island anymore, and there is no one to build one either. And whatever is left of prison will be filled with monster remnants, especially those eight-legged basterds, of which Dhruv was sure.
"It’s possible, but not at the moment, master. I have the ability to command or bestow consciousness using my death crystal, but I must evolve it to at least Tier 5. So, until then, we can’t grant them consciousness. However, I assure you that taming these new Undead will be far simpler compared to the old ones. I’m sorry for my incompetence," Azarex replied with a hint of sorrow.
"Ohh! Don’t be sorry; I was just curious, and knowing it’s a possibility is already sufficient for now. Let’s get started." With those words, Dhruv turned once more, facing the undead, and initiated the fusion process.
This time, he chose to combine five monsters to form one, resulting in a total of sixty mega undead. The fusion process took a considerable amount of time due to the large number of monsters involved.
Dhruv began to feel a wave of weakness as the process came to a close, which was likely caused by overusing the fusion ability to some degree. He used his mana sensitivity to detect his inner state and discovered that his mana was nearly depleted.
Before even that ran out, he swiftly retrieved mana potions and consumed three of them in quick succession. After that, he started to feel normal again.
All sixty undead rose to their feet in front of Dhruv and Azarex, then kneeled down.
Shocked by this sudden action, Dhruv asked, "Azarex, did you command them to kneel?"
"I was about to command them, but they knelt on their own before I even gave the order," Azarex replied. Even he was impressed with their action.
’Does this mean they can think independently? Well, that’s a promising start. But is this a result of the Fusion, or were they capable of this all along?’ Dhruv mused. Then a sudden realization struck him, ’Am I becoming dumber day by day? Obviously, they were capable of that from the beginning, no matter how small they were; after all, there should be something inside them for fusion to enhance the effect.’
While he was lost in thought, those sixty undead, consisting of goblins, spiders, and Crystallce, suddenly ten of them started to disintegrate. It was as if their life force had burst out from within them.
He glanced at Azarex with a puzzled expression and inquired, "Azarex, what’s happening?"
After a brief pause, Azarex replied, "Master, I’m finding it difficult to control all sixty mega undead seamlessly. If I exert myself, I might be able to manage them. Should I attempt that?"
"No, don’t force yourself. Just control the number you can handle comfortably and leave the rest be," Dhruv responded, pausing for a moment before continuing.
"Did you just say only fifty mega undeads? Does that mean you could control more undead if they were of the regular type?"
As soon as he blurted out the question, Dhruv noticed a smile forming on Azarex’s skull. It was a smile that he could only describe as the most evil thing he had witnessed to this date.
