Chapter 125: Evolution: Runic Jotun (2)
[Ladies and gentlemen, welcome once again to news at any hour. We bring the latest and trending information. Presenting is your host... The one and only...
Chuck Morris.]
[Now to our main headline...]
A young man with bushy silver hair that covered his eyes, dark skin, and a very slim build sat lazily on a black sofa, watching the news on the television. The host, who had been introduced as Chuck Morris, was a tall, muscular man with blond hair that was styled in some weird way.
[Silas Ashard, one of the current confirmed S-Ranks of both City A and the country as a whole, plus the sole heir of the Ashard Family, has been confirmed as the youngest billionaire in the whole of New Liberty by Axul Analytics.
The results were based on his...]
"To think he would turn from that poor boy to this. I guess it’s time to visit my alma mater..." the silver-haired guy said with a small smile. He tilted his head and looked upwards, revealing a bit of his eyes that were glowing with a sickly green light.
***
Oblivious to what was happening on Earth, Silas and his people were running for their lives... literally. Silas didn’t get far, though. He had barely taken three steps before the system spoke again.
[Correction!]
[Leaving the Area is recommended for everyone except the contractor.]
Silas skidded to a halt, causing Alpha to almost trip over him.
"Contractor?"
"What now?!"
"The system changed its mind."
"It WHAT?!"
The pink-haired young man glanced back at the mountain-sized cocoon. The pressure pouring from it had only intensified. Every pulse distorted the surrounding space, while countless rivers of mana continued converging upon it from every corner of Gorgath.
"I think..." Silas narrowed his eyes. "...it wants me to stay."
The system immediately confirmed his suspicion.
[Affirmative. The contractor possesses the necessary authority to oversee the inheritance. Others do not.]
"..."
Alpha looked at Silas; Silas looked at Alpha.
Alpha sighed. "I hate your life."
"So do I."
Chloe stepped beside Silas.
"I’m staying."
The system interrupted before he could answer, and this time, it revealed itself as a huge pink hovering screen, visible for everyone to see. This shocked Alpha and Chloe greatly. If at first they questioned the existence of something like a system, now they couldn’t.
They could tell it wasn’t an ability of Silas.
[Denied!]
"What?!" Chloe asked two questions at once.
[Ice Empress inheritance conflicts with Jotun inheritance.]
[Two sovereign inheritances cannot resonate simultaneously.]
[Risk: Bloodline Rejection.]
Chloe’s expression changed.
"So... I’ll interfere?"
[Correct.]
Silas immediately shook his head. "Then you’re leaving."
"But..."
"No."
Their eyes met, and for once, he wasn’t smiling.
"Gromda wouldn’t forgive herself if something happened to you because you stayed."
What he said made her silent for a while. Eventually, Chloe nodded.
"Fine."
She hated admitting it, but the system had never once lied to Silas, well, most of the time, but she didn’t have to know that.
Alpha folded his arms.
"So. I’m assuming I have to leave too."
[Affirmative. I know that is what you would like if there were options.]
"Wonderful."
He looked toward the giant cocoon.
"I came to another world just to become luggage."
"You were emotional support."
"I wasn’t even good at that!"
Silas laughed.
"You complained the whole trip."
"I had reasons!"
The Crimson Reaper Queen screeched impatiently. Apparently, even it wanted to leave.
Silas placed a hand on Chloe’s shoulder.
"I’ll be fine."
"You always say that."
"And I’m always right."
"I hate that."
He smiled. "I know."
Chloe hesitated before wrapping her arms around him in a quick embrace.
"Don’t do anything reckless."
"I’ll try."
"You won’t."
"I won’t."
She smiled despite herself. "Idiot."
Alpha climbed back onto the Crimson Reaper Queen with the enthusiasm of a condemned prisoner.
"I can’t believe I’m voluntarily riding this thing again."
"You’ll survive."
"I survived the first trip through sheer hatred."
The mantis chirped, and Alpha glared at it.
"Don’t sound happy."
Moments later, the Crimson Reaper Queen leapt skyward. Silas watched until they disappeared beyond the clouds before he turned around.
The valley had changed. It no longer resembled the place they’d arrived at.
The ground had become covered in glowing emerald veins, like the roots of an unimaginably enormous tree spreading beneath the earth. The colossal stone hands had emerged completely.
And they weren’t hands anymore. They belonged to an ancient giant. Its body remained buried beneath the valley, but its upper torso now towered into the heavens.
Its skin resembled weathered granite. Moss, forests, and waterfalls covered its body as though entire ecosystems had grown upon it over countless millennia. Its eyes remained closed, while its enormous palms still held the gigantic stone tablet.
The system spoke.
[Guardian Identified!]
[Name: Jotunn Sentinel]
[Status: Dormant]
[Purpose: Witness]
[Rank: Unranked]
Silas swallowed.
"Witness...?"
Before the system could answer, the cocoon pulsed again. This time, it cracked. It was just a tiny fracture, but through that crack escaped a pressure so overwhelming that the surrounding mountains bent.
Silas instinctively activated Heart Domain, causing pink threads to spread throughout his surroundings. His Fate Thread Vision automatically expanded, and his breathing stopped.
Inside the cocoon, he no longer saw Gromda. He saw something else, an enormous silhouette far larger than before.
Her muscles were becoming denser. Her bones shifted as mana rewove every fiber of her being. It didn’t look painful, but resembled... Creation, as though an invisible blacksmith was forging an entirely new race from the old one.
The system displayed lines of information faster than Silas could read.
[Evolution Progress: 3%]
[Orc Bloodline... Dissolving.]
[Titan Heritage... Awakening.]
[Jotun Genome Reconstruction... Initiated.]
"Genome?"
[Every living race possesses ancestral genetic information. Jotuns are among the oldest giant races in existence. Current procedure restores dormant ancestry.]
"So she’s not becoming a Jotun..."
[Correction. She is remembering that she always could become one.]
Silas slowly looked back toward the cocoon.
"That’s... actually amazing."
Time passed. Minutes, or perhaps hours. There was no sun visible above the inheritance grounds anymore, only endless mana. The cocoon continued growing.
One hundred feet, two hundred, three hundred. It eventually became taller than the surrounding cliffs, its heartbeat echoing throughout the valley.
THOOM... THOOM... THOOM...
Each pulse caused Gorgath itself to answer.
Far away, volcanoes erupted, mana storms formed, and ancient beasts raised their heads toward the horizon. Every giant tribe stopped whatever they were doing.
The elders, the shamans, and the kings all turned toward the inheritance grounds.
"The Gate..."
"It opened..."
"The Heir... has returned."
Back within the valley, Silas suddenly sensed movement and turned sharply. From every direction, figures were arriving.
Some stood twelve feet tall, others twenty. Their skin ranged from green to ash gray, dark bronze, and even deep blue. Many possessed horns.
Some carried axes the size of buildings, while others wielded stone hammers crackling with mana. There were thousands, but none of them crossed an invisible line surrounding the inheritance grounds.
Instead, they knelt, every single one of them knelt before the ancient stone giant holding the tablet. Then, together, they struck their chests once.
The sound echoed like thunder, making Silas’s eyes widen.
"They’ve been waiting for this."
The oldest among them stepped forward. His beard reached his knees. One of his eyes had long since turned to crystal.
He looked at Silas quietly before speaking in a voice like grinding mountains.
"The contractor."
Silas blinked in confusion.
"You know who I am?"
The elder nodded.
"We have waited. For many generations."
His ancient gaze shifted toward the glowing cocoon.
"Our Queen is finally coming home."