Infinite Evolution: My Idle Evolution System

*Ding~!*

[You have slain a Peak-stage Rank 2 Nightmare 'Umbravore'!]

[Acquired a massive amount of Nightmare Essence!]

Although Cassius's Slayer strength had been capped at the 7th Stage of the Apprentice Slayer Rank, he could still feel his Skills sharpening. Especially when it came to his use of the experimental Fusion Skill 'Atomic Slash'—which was of the SS- Rank and something he personally derived from the Atomic Element. Of course, he did so with the help of numerous Ruby-ranked Mind and Comprehension-related Skills.

"Atomic Slash," Cassius said, gently rubbing his finger across Lilith's reactive edges. "It's a very useful Skill capable of being used multiple times in rapid succession."
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His icy blue eyes suddenly shifted toward an incoming scorpion tail. A Peak Rank 2 Nightmare 'Shadow Stinger' wished to avenge its fallen brethren. Its mutant scorpion-like figure rushed at Cassius, its savage hiss hinting at its fury.

Yet, in that same instant, similar runic lines as before appeared—this time even faster than the first time.

Before the Shadow Stinger's giant stinger could puncture a hole through Cassius's emotionless face, an overbearing aura exploded outward from Lilith. She hummed a battle-crazed tune before suddenly enlarging in size. From a mere six feet to over 30 meters, she now loomed over the charging Shadow Stinger.

However, completely out of expectations, Cassius did not immediately swing downward. Instead, he turned her horizontally and pumped the muscles in both his arms. Then he slashed.

"Duck!" he shouted in the same instant.

"!!!" "!!!" "!!!"

As if on instinct, every other member of Platoon #42 followed the directive and ducked. They did so just in the nick of time, for razing right above their heads—slicing off a few strands of hair—was a colossal Atomic Sword Slash that swept through the area.

The cries of the Nightmares sounded out all around Platoon #42. Until, eventually, there were no more screams. No more sounds at all.

The Captain wearily got up. His shaky eyes saw something that left him even more astonished than before.

Where the charging Shadow Stinger once was, there was now no intact scorpion. The mighty Nightmare had been cleanly cleaved into two, with both halves sliding off one another, revealing the reddish-black blood inside. However, as the Captain turned his head around, he saw many more similar events happening everywhere in their part of the Gorge. Of course, with the slight incline, not every kill was as cleanly done as with the Shadow Stinger. Some of the Rank 2 Nightmares were even crawling around with whatever remained of them—still trying to attack the Slayers.

"This crazy freak," the Captain muttered. He felt a deep chill run down his spine when he thought about what would've happened if they hadn't dodged.

Even as 3rd Class Slayers, they would have…

"Hey," Cassius said, forcing him out of his stupor. "Stop standing around and leave the Boundless Gorge. Many more are coming, and the next wave won't be anywhere as simple as this one."

"Simple…?" the Captain repeated, his fearful eyes scanning the corpses of hundreds of Rank 2 Nightmares and six previous iterations of his Captain position. 'How could any of this be called simple…??'

Then, from the tunneled holes of both sides of the Gorge, thousands of presences just as powerful as Rank 2 Nightmares appeared. Some of them even exceeded Rank 2, reaching levels that would leave even veteran 3rd Class Slayers on their knees.

"If you wish to leave here alive," Cassius said to the Captain, "then leave now. Otherwise, don't bother leaving at all."

The Captain hesitated. "But what about you? Are you not coming with us—"

"I will hold them back, covering your retreat," said Cassius. "Now go. Don't let my sacrifice be in vain."

The Captain's knuckles turned white as he hesitantly deliberated.

Ultimately, he gritted his teeth and shouted out to all the other Slayers. "Retreat at once! Make use of this opportunity that young hero Cadet Cassius has given to us!! Run!!!"

The Captain's voice acted as a wake-up call for the 3rd Class Slayers, urging their feet into motion. They took one last glance at the noble visage of Cadet Cassius before never looking back. The Captain—finding this situation the most difficult—could only vent his frustrations on the straggling Rank 2 and small-fry Rank 1 Nightmares standing in their way.

Cassius—after seeing the members of Platoon #42 fully recede into the distance—exhaled a long breath of cold air. Then he shifted his piercing gaze toward the limitless number of powerful Nightmares crawling out of their holes in the wall.

"It looks like it's just you and me now," he said coldly, his hands tightly gripping Lilith's hilt. "How about we have some fun?"

[What about me…? (｡•́︿•̀｡)]

Ignored.

*Fwoooop!*

"Esceetch—!!!"

As soon as Peak Rank 2 Nightmares appeared en masse from the wall tunnels, Cassius burst forward at many times the speed of sound. His first target was a large shadowy hippo with the head of a monkey. But before the terrifying Nightmare could get even a single attack out, Lilith's cold edges had already made contact with its rubbery skin. Blood sprayed the area a blackish red, with the hippo being shredded to bits the only thing the other Peak 2 Nightmares saw on their way out.

They screeched and roared out in rage. Yet Cassius could care less about their anger; his expression only became ever icier. With the speed of a phantom, he flashed through the corpse-ridden battlefield and cut off the heads of dozens of normal Rank 2 Nightmares, as well as nearly ten Peak Rank 2 Nightmares.

None could see him move, and even fewer could match his ridiculous speed.

For the next half a minute, he blurred around, killing hundreds of Rank 2 Nightmares and acquiring absurd amounts of Nightmare Essence. However, when a massive webbed claw forcefully smashed through a wall tunnel that was not anywhere big enough to handle its size, Cassius realized that his slaughter spree would soon come to a sudden halt.

BOOM!

Another webbed claw smashed through the other side of the relatively tiny tunnel; which, as a result, took the lives of dozens of Rank 2 Nightmares.

That was when IT appeared…