Evolving My Undead Legion In A Game-Like World

Chapter 1203: The First One {Editted!!}

The clearing Michael remembered was gone. In its place stood a creature so enormous that the surrounding trees barely reached its shoulders.

Lucky had grown again.

His new body stood nearly forty metres tall even while resting on all fours. Thick greyish-green fur covered him from head to tail, though unlike the vibrant fur of an ordinary living beast, his coat looked strangely dry. Individual strands resembled withered grass, rough and almost lifeless, with darker patches spreading along his back and limbs.

His enormous paws pressed deeply into the earth. Each one was large enough to crush a small building beneath it, ending in thick black claws that curved into the ground.

His body had also become considerably more muscular. Powerful shoulders rose beneath the dry fur, while his chest and limbs carried enough mass to make his previous form appear almost immature in comparison.

However, the most noticeable change was his back.

A huge pair of wings extended from behind his shoulders. Even folded, they were enormous, resting along both sides of his body and extending almost to the ground. They were covered in the same greyish-green fur near their base, gradually transitioning into darker colours toward their ends.

Lucky's head had changed as well. His skull appeared broader, his muzzle longer, and two enormous fangs protruded slightly from beneath his upper lips. Despite his size, there was nothing clumsy about his appearance. His proportions remained almost unnaturally balanced.

Then his eyes opened.

Bright green eyes immediately locked onto Michael.

The enormous wolf remained still for several seconds before slowly lowering his massive head. The movement alone displaced the surrounding air.

Michael approached without hesitation. Lucky's head eventually stopped only a short distance above the ground, bringing his enormous muzzle close enough for Michael to reach.

Michael raised one hand and placed it against the side of Lucky's face.

The sensation wasn't warm. It couldn't be, as Lucky was still an undead. There was no beating heart hidden beneath that enormous chest, no warm blood circulating through his veins, and his body didn't produce the natural heat expected from a creature of his size.

Yet neither did he feel like a corpse.

Michael's talent had long since pushed his undead beyond something as simple as animated bodies. Every evolution refined them. Their bodies became increasingly complete, and even the flaws normally associated with undead creatures gradually disappeared as they approached the most perfect form their species could possibly attain.

Lucky was perhaps one of the clearest examples. The dry fur beneath Michael's hand shifted naturally beneath his fingers. Muscles responded beneath the skin. Lucky's green eyes moved with awareness, following Michael even as his enormous head remained lowered.

There was intelligence there.

Lucky wasn't alive. But calling him dead didn't feel entirely correct either.

Living dead. Michael couldn't think of a more appropriate description. And after reaching Epic Three-Star, that contradiction had only become more pronounced.

However, as Michael continued examining Lucky's new form, a faint sense of conflict gradually appeared in his eyes. It had nothing to do with Lucky's appearance. The problem was how quickly he had awakened.

Normally, that would have been the usual outcome. But this time, Michael had been hoping for something more.

Rank Five.

Michael still had no idea what exactly would happen when one of his undead crossed that threshold. Rank Five was the Demigod realm. It was an enormous qualitative transformation, and Michael doubted such an advancement could happen quietly.

Rank Four certainly hadn't. When Lucky had first crossed into Rank Four, a lightning tribulation had descended. The advancement itself had caused an obvious phenomenon. Yet this time, nothing had happened.

No tribulation. No strange phenomenon. Lucky had simply finished evolving and awakened.

That alone was enough for Michael to understand that Lucky hadn't reached Rank Five, even without a deep look at the panels that followed its evolution. Despite becoming an Epic Three-Star creature, he was still Rank Four.

Michael's hand continued moving through the enormous wolf's dry fur as he accepted the result. He couldn't deny that he felt slightly disappointed. After seeing how absurdly powerful Lucky had become with each evolution, a small part of Michael had hoped that reaching Three-Star Epic would somehow push him directly across the boundary separating Rank Four from Rank Five.

Apparently, things weren't going to be that convenient.

Still, the disappointment lasted only a few seconds.

Lucky's aura was terrifying. Michael had sensed it the moment he entered the clearing, but only after standing directly beside Lucky did he properly appreciate how much the creature had changed.

The pressure naturally radiating from Lucky's enormous body was immense. It wasn't deliberately released, as Lucky wasn't trying to intimidate him, nor could he. But Michael could feel the sheer amount of power contained within him.

More surprisingly, Michael realized it was even stronger than the pressure he had felt from the Undead High Drake.

That genuinely shocked him. The Undead High Drake was already an absurd Rank Four existence. Its enormous body, draconic bloodline, physical strength, and accumulated foundation made it one of Michael's strongest undead, if not his strongest undead. Saying it was one of Michael's strongest undead, rather than simply the strongest, was because of the existence of Beginning.

Yet Lucky's presence now surpassed it. Not by such an overwhelming margin that the High Drake suddenly felt weak, but enough that Michael could clearly distinguish between them.

There was also another reason Michael wasn't too disappointed.

The moment he confirmed Lucky hadn't reached Rank Five, Michael had already made a decision.

Lucky was going to evolve again. Lucky was going to become Michael's first Legendary-grade undead.

The thought should probably have required considerably more consideration than Michael was currently giving it. After all, Legendary grade was completely different from Epic. Michael had already seen enough evidence to understand how enormous the difference between grades became at higher levels.

The real problem was control. Michael still couldn't properly control a Rank Five undead. A Demigod was simply too far above him.

However, Michael's experiences over the past few days had repeatedly shown him that losing absolute control didn't automatically mean losing everything. The Undead High Drake and Bone Dragon had already demonstrated that. The ghost had demonstrated it even more clearly.

Michael believed that even if he couldn't directly force a sufficiently powerful undead to obey every command, the connection between creator and creation should still exist. More importantly, unless the undead possessed strong malice toward him, they wouldn't necessarily attack him simply because his control weakened.

And Lucky was perhaps the undead Michael trusted most to test that theory.

Sentiment certainly played a role in Michael's decision. He wasn't going to pretend otherwise. But sentiment wasn't the only reason. Lucky was also an excellent experiment.

Eventually, Michael would have to begin evolving more of his undead into Legendary grade. Avoiding it simply because he couldn't guarantee absolute control over the resulting Rank Five existence would only delay the inevitable. Someone had to be first. Lucky was as good a choice as Michael could possibly make.

If the evolution succeeded and Lucky remained cooperative, Michael would gain his first Legendary undead and learn considerably more about how his connection behaved when one of his creations entered Rank Five.

After all, if a Legendary-grade undead with dragon blood could still obey him, didn't that mean he could go a little all out?

Even if Lucky stopped obeying him completely, Michael would learn from that too. It wouldn't even necessarily be a loss. If the worst happened, Lucky simply wouldn't leave the Mausoleum. Michael had no problem doing that. The Mausoleum of Endless Dominion was enormous enough to contain him indefinitely, and Michael possessed overwhelming authority over the world itself.

In that sense, it was the perfect testing ground. A sanctuary if everything went well. A cage if it didn't.

Michael's gaze returned to the enormous wolf before him. Lucky remained completely unaware that Michael had already decided to gamble with his next stage of existence.

Michael slowly withdrew his hand from the greyish-green fur. The disappointment from earlier had completely disappeared.

If Three-Star Epic wasn't enough to produce a Demigod, then so be it. He would simply go one step further.

Legendary grade.

"Infinite Evolution! Show me your limit!"

[Cost of Evolution: 1,000,000 Evolution Points]

[Confirm Evolution?]

[Yes]

The moment the confirmation went through, the numbers plummeted. One million Evolution Points disappeared from Michael's possession in an instant.

Even though he had already known the cost, actually watching such an enormous amount vanish still produced a strange emptiness in his chest.

Fortunately, Michael didn't have much time to mourn his suddenly impoverished state.

The enormous wolf's bright green eyes widened. Then his head snapped upward.

"AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The howl exploded across many regions in the Mausoleum.

Michael's expression changed immediately. The surrounding forest bent outward as though struck by an invisible wave. Leaves exploded from branches. Smaller trees were uprooted completely, while the earth beneath Lucky's paws cracked in every direction.

Michael's robes whipped violently around him.

Then the ground moved.

A thick greyish-green vine erupted from below. It was enormous. The vine was thicker than the trunks of many ancient trees within the surrounding forest, its surface dry and rough, almost identical in colour to Lucky's fur.

Then another appeared. And another. And another.

Within seconds, the entire clearing began collapsing. Hundreds of vines tore through the ground simultaneously.

BOOM!

Michael immediately shot into the air. A vine erupted directly beneath where he had been standing a fraction of a second earlier. It continued upward for dozens of metres before curving inward toward Lucky.

Michael accelerated. The situation was developing much differently than Lucky's previous evolutions.

More vines emerged beyond the clearing. They twisted around one another, climbing higher and higher as their tips curved toward a single point above Lucky.

Even though he had already known the cost, actually watching such an enormous amount vanish still produced a strange emptiness in his chest.

Fortunately, Michael didn't have much time to mourn his suddenly impoverished state.

The enormous wolf's bright green eyes widened. Then his head snapped upward.

"AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The howl exploded across many regions in the Mausoleum.

Michael's expression changed immediately. The surrounding forest bent outward as though struck by an invisible wave. Leaves exploded from branches. Smaller trees were uprooted completely, while the earth beneath Lucky's paws cracked in every direction.

Michael's robes whipped violently around him.

Then the ground moved.

A thick greyish-green vine erupted from below. It was enormous. The vine was thicker than the trunks of many ancient trees within the surrounding forest, its surface dry and rough, almost identical in colour to Lucky's fur.

Then another appeared. And another. And another.

Within seconds, the entire clearing began collapsing. Hundreds of vines tore through the ground simultaneously.

BOOM!

Michael immediately shot into the air. A vine erupted directly beneath where he had been standing a fraction of a second earlier. It continued upward for dozens of metres before curving inward toward Lucky.

Michael accelerated. The situation was developing much differently than Lucky's previous evolutions.

More vines emerged beyond the clearing. They twisted around one another, climbing higher and higher as their tips curved toward a single point above Lucky.

Michael shot through one of the rapidly shrinking openings just before two enormous vines intertwined behind him.

Within moments, the entire clearing was enclosed.

Michael stopped several hundred metres away in the air.

What had once been a forest clearing now contained an enormous dome.