Necromancer Of The Shadows

Evan was stunned as he found himself suspended in the sky, at the exact place he had been before the magic circle appeared at the summit of the snowy mountain.

However, even though he was still at the same place, the snowy mountain that had been in front of him a moment ago was nowhere to be seen.

In its place remained a flat terrain, and looking at the small patches of grass growing on the surface, no one could have guessed that a small snow covered mountain had stood there just moments earlier.

Evan turned and looked around, but even with his Void Sight, he couldn't detect the snowy mountain within tens of thousands of kilometers in any direction.

"What the hell is going on here?" He muttered under his breath, shifting his attention to the still chaotic world essence. "Are all the changes happening within Anastasia's Core World related to that mountain?"

As Evan pondered, he descended to the ground and found that even the temperature of the surroundings was completely normal. There were no traces of the Ice Law that had nearly frozen him just moments ago.

"I should just ask Anastasia what is happening with her Core World..." He finally decided and immediately flew in her direction.

Carefully avoiding the occasional world destroying lightning strikes that rained from the sky and the sharp wind blades blowing in all directions, Evan reached Anastasia's location in about forty minutes.

However, upon arrival, he discovered a new problem.

"The world essence in this area is even more chaotic..." He muttered, narrowing his eyes. "It's as if this world essence is undergoing some sort of transformation and is preventing anyone from approaching Anastasia."

As he walked toward the fluffy looking bed made of clouds on which Anastasia was sleeping, Evan felt a crushing pressure descend upon him.

It wasn't just the pressure from the chaotic world essence— Anastasia herself was unconsciously releasing a tremendous force that made it difficult to approach her.

A very thin black layer— so faint that it was impossible to see from a distance—covered Anastasia's entire body and the power emanating from it was unlike anything Evan had ever felt before.

Not only that, upon closer inspection, he even saw faint—ethereal looking black dragon scales slowing covering Anastasia's arms. Two horns materlized on her head and other dragon features became even more prominent.

"Don't tell me..." Seeing what was happening, a sudden realization struck Evan, and his eyes widened in shock. But that shock soon disappeared and was replaced with joy.

"She is assimilating another portion of her Progenitor powers."

During the ten years he had spent with Anastasia in her Core World, she had told him many things—one of which was the assimilation process of her Progenitor powers.

According to her, she was still far from being able to control all of her Progenitor strength.

She had also explained that the reason Progenitors and Monarch Core Holders were vastly stronger than other Core Evolvers—and recognized as beings just below Primordials—was precisely because of this.

Just like Progenitors, Monarch Core Holders must also assimilate the power of their Monarch Core after reaching the peak of Rank Six.

However, in Utopia, no Monarch even knew about the existence of this assimilation process—let alone how to perform it.

When Anastasia had visited Eilistraea a few days ago, the information she had offered in exchange for her help against Winterclaw was actually the method of assimilating Monarch Core power. (Chap—1297)

That method had been told to her long ago by Azroth, and she had spent the past few thousand years in the Shadow Realm using it to gradually assimilate her strength.

Even so, she had only managed to gain control over forty percent of her Progenitor powers during the time she spent in the shadow realm.

Not long ago, when she visited the Dragon Islands, she finally succeeded in taking another step forward—managing to control fifty percent of her Progenitor powers. (Chap-1209)

"She told me it would take her a few more years to reach the sixty percent mark..." Evan muttered, a confused look on his face, unable to understand how she had managed to make such progress again in such a short time.

He looked at Anastasia's sleeping face for a moment and hesitated, unsure whether to wake her and ask about the snowy mountain and the creature he had summoned earlier.

After some consideration, Evan decided to wait for her to wake up naturally as he was afraid of interrupting the process of assimilation and potentially harming her.

"This is what I call life..." He muttered with envy. "She enjoyed herself for ten years and then went to sleep without a care. Yet even while sleeping, she is getting stronger—while I am running around like a wet dog without a moment's rest."

He sighed at his own misery and decided to leave Anastasia's Core World for now and experiment with the bodies of Gustav and the others he had brought back.

"I hope the Rune of Absorption works the way I expect it to, and that I will be able to deepen my understanding of Void Law using it," He muttered under his breath and after giving Anastasia one last glance, he walked toward the portal that led outside.

Just as he was about to leave her Core World, a thought struck him—and his expression changed.

Like a robot, he stiffly turned his neck to look back at the sleeping Anastasia, and his heart skipped a beat.

"This lusty dragon... I already had a hard time fighting her in bed. But now that she is assimilating another part of her Progenitor powers, won't she become even more terrifying?"

As the thought crossed his mind, Evan's face turned slightly pale. Without wasting even a single second, he leapt through the portal to escape from Anastasia's Core World.

"I need to increase my strength as soon as possible... or I will end up dying in the most embarrassing way imaginable."