Chapter 87: Finding An Evol Shard

Chapter 87: Finding An Evol ShardChapter 87

Han stood atop the tallest building in Sereqnya, his gaze stretched toward the distant horizon. Yet, he wasn’t truly looking at anything. His eyes were blank, unfocused, lost in the storm brewing within his mind.

Dr. Matzo’s words echoed relentlessly.

His aunt didn’t have much time left.

Unless a cure for the cursed serum was found, she would perish.

There was another option—one that might buy her time. Han could evolve her body to the next level. It wouldn’t be permanent, but it could stall the inevitable.

The catch?

He could only evolve others if they were conscious. His aunt’s mind, however, was dulled, her consciousness faint and slipping.

That left only one path. One desperate hope.

An Evol Shard.

A relic so rare, factions would slaughter for a single fragment.



Han rose to his feet, expression unreadable—calm, controlled. His mother’s words echoed just as loudly now: "A good leader remains calm in the storm. Only then can he act wisely and swiftly."

Whether rare or not, he was going to get an Evol Shard.

He tapped on his communicator, sending out encrypted messages. One went to Silver Wing, a newly promoted elite of the Tryst Guild—formerly the Preston City guild, now absorbed into the growing reach of Tryst. Han didn’t care if the news of an A6-level powerhouse serving another guild made waves. Let it.

He had more important things to worry about.

—

Hours later, Han stood before a trembling yellow portal. Its edges flickered violently, threatening to collapse at any second.

"Let’s hope there’s an Evol Shard in here," he muttered.

The odds were grim—only a 0.02% chance for a shard to appear in a yellow portal. But miracles only favored those willing to chase them.

Without hesitation, Han stepped through.

The world twisted.

When it settled, he stood in a dry, cracked wasteland under a pale green sky. Far ahead, shadows prowled—wolf-like beasts with jagged horns and molten eyes.

"Let’s keep this clean."

He raised his hand. "Ifrit. Thunderwrath."

A pillar of flame burst from the ground to his right. A surge of lightning cracked to his left. When the energy died down, two elemental spirits stood beside him—Ifrit, smoldering with fury, and Thunderwrath, crackling with restrained power.

Han snapped his wrist.

They charged.

Thunderwrath blurred forward, a streak of blue light, crashing into the nearest horned wolf. Howls filled the air—then silence. The beast fell, its body twitching.

Thunderwrath smirked and turned toward Ifrit.

The fire spirit growled, rising into the air. "Inferno Vortex."

Flames erupted from his core, swirling into a massive flaming spiral that crashed into the pack. Screams echoed as the beasts were engulfed in fire, turning to ash in seconds.

Not to be outdone, Thunderwrath shifted into his human form, his silver hair rising with static. He lifted both hands skyward.

"Lightning Rain!"

A single bolt tore through the clouds, and then a storm followed. Spears of lightning fell like divine punishment, striking down dozens of the horned wolves with surgical precision.

Han strolled calmly through the chaos, his coat fluttering with each gust. The horned wolves were only B-rank creatures—fodder before his elite S-rank spirits.

It was a massacre.

One of the wolves caught sight of Han, snarled, and charged.

Han slowly turned to face it, his eyes glowing crimson.

"Go back."

The wolf froze mid-lunge.

Terror.

A suffocating pressure crushed its instincts. Whimpering, the beast turned and fled.

Han didn’t even blink.

He kept walking.

Han stepped through the glowing blue door.

Immediately, the world shifted around him. He emerged into a sealed chamber, clearly isolated from the rest of the dungeon. The air was thick with pressure. This was it—the portal boss’s domain.

A deep, guttural growl echoed from the shadows.

Han turned calmly. From the far side of the chamber emerged a towering beast—part wolf, part man—with bulging muscles, two jagged horns curling from its head, and crimson eyes locked on him with seething hatred.

It snarled, baring its fangs.

Han stood still, voice composed.

"Do you have an Evol Shard?"



Silence.

The creature growled louder. It wasn’t interested in talking—especially not with the one who had just massacred its entire pack.

It lunged.

A sudden charge, energy condensing around its claws as it aimed straight for Han’s skull with a devastating strike.

But just before impact—

CRACK!

A flash of lightning.

The only thing the beast’s claws met was empty space and fading sparks.

Han’s voice rang out behind it.

"Fourteenth Jungle Art: Tiger Punch—Flame Style."

The boss turned—just in time to see a blazing fist heading straight for its face.

BOOM!

The flaming punch landed clean. A shockwave erupted, and the beast’s head snapped back violently. It collapsed in a heap, dead before it even hit the ground.

> +2000 CP

+6000 EP

+5 Stat Points

Han dismissed the notification without a second glance. He scanned the area... but found no Evol Shard.

Nothing.

Disappointed, he stepped back into the previous zone.

Ifrit and Thunderwrath were still there.

All the horned wolves had already been wiped out—but that didn’t stop the two elemental spirits from continuing their eternal rivalry.

Han’s eye twitched as he caught sight of the two elemental spirits locked in a heated clash—against each other.

Sparks flew and flames surged as Ifrit and Thunderwrath, both ignoring the absence of enemies, unleashed their powers in a reckless show of rivalry.

Thunderwrath had already assumed his human form, electricity dancing wildly across his body. From his stance alone, Han instantly recognized the buildup—

Tch.

"He’s about to unleash one of the Lightning Force techniques..." Han muttered.

He raised his hand, voice flat with irritation.

"Return."

Both spirits instantly vanished in streaks of flame and thunder.

Han exhaled deeply, surveying the aftermath.

Hundreds of beast corpses littered the battlefield. With a flick of his hand, the black ring on his finger pulsed, and a powerful suction force pulled the cores from each creature.

Hundreds of glowing orbs zipped through the air, vanishing into the ring.

> 1000 Beast Cores Stored

Han nodded in approval.

The ring, a gift from Nathan, had two impressive abilities. First, it provided unlimited storage for cores and artifacts—far more capacity than his system’s limited inventory. Second, it could convert stored beast cores into energy and transfer it directly to Han during battle.

With this, he’d never run dry of power mid-fight.

Without another word, Han stepped out of the portal—and vanished.

—

Moments later, a group of armed adventurers cautiously approached the trembling yellow portal. Their expressions were tense, some even fearful.

They all knew the risk of entering a yellow portal. Most teams didn’t return. But duty called.



Just as they were about to step closer—

The portal flickered.

Then, in front of their eyes...

It vanished.


Completely.

They froze, stunned.

"What...? Did that just close by itself?" one of them whispered, eyes wide.

Mouths hung open in disbelief.

No one answered.

Because none of them had ever seen anything like it.

---

To be continued...