I Can See Evolution Paths

The next Chief attacked before they had even finished crossing the previous territory. A roar shook the underground ecosystem, followed by the sound of something enormous tearing through the roots overhead.

Arthur looked up. "Incoming."

The ceiling exploded. A massive Beast crashed through the stone, landing directly in the middle of the road.

Mithra was already moving. She vanished from her position and reappeared beneath the Beast, her blades cutting across its legs before it could recover. The Chief stumbled, and Vedas drove his golden spear into its side. Kong followed with a roar, grabbing the Beast’s body and throwing it across the cavern. It crashed into a wall.

Sun’s staff struck the ground, the resulting shockwave sending broken stone flying.

Athy circled above them. "Behind!"

Arthur turned. Another Chief emerged from the darkness. Then another. Then a third.

Arthur’s expression changed. "Everyone, spread out."

The cavern erupted into chaos. The Chiefs weren’t attacking one at a time anymore. They were coming from every direction. Some emerged from the underground rivers. Others tore through the roots covering the walls. One enormous Beast descended from the ceiling while another burst through the ground beneath Kong. The entire ecosystem seemed to have awakened, and suddenly the Chief Beast hunt no longer felt like a hunt. It felt like a war.

The first three fell within minutes. The fourth nearly caught Sun, a massive horned Beast charging through the battlefield, forcing him to leap sideways as its horns shattered the stone behind him. "That’s a little too close!" He thrust his staff forward, and the shockwave struck the Beast’s chest, but it barely slowed down.

Sun’s expression tightened. "Of course."

The Beast charged again. This time, Kong intercepted it, catching one horn with both hands, the impact pushing him several meters backward, stone cracking beneath his feet.

Kong grinned. "Strong."

Sun stared at him. "You say that like it’s a compliment."

Kong pulled harder, and the Beast’s front legs left the ground. Then Kong threw it. It flew across the cavern and crashed into a cluster of ancient stone pillars.

Before it could recover, Mithra appeared, her body blurring. One slash. Two. Three. She disappeared before the Beast could retaliate.

Vedas appeared directly above it, his golden spear coming down. The Chief collapsed.

[Chief Beasts Defeated: 37/50]

Arthur barely had time to read the notification before another roar shook the cavern. "Thirty-eight is coming."

Lily looked at him. "How do you know?"

Arthur pointed ahead. A massive shadow was moving through the underground river. "Oh."

The water erupted. A serpentine Chief launched itself toward them.

Eden immediately used Sharing, Arthur’s vision changing as he saw the creature’s movement before it happened. "Left!" Everyone moved, and the Beast crashed into the wall.

Melo’s dream mist spread through the water, the creature slowing. Athy dove. Sun struck. Mithra cut. Vedas finished it.

[Chief Beasts Defeated: 38/50]

Nobody celebrated. They simply kept moving.

The deeper they went, the more Chiefs they encountered, and the more they fought, the more natural their movements became. Arthur no longer needed to tell Kong where to attack.

Kong already knew where Vedas would strike. Mithra knew when Sun would create an opening.

Athy could redirect the entire group from above. Eden’s shared vision let them react to attacks before they fully developed. Melo disrupted enemies at exactly the moment they needed it. They had spent so long fighting together that coordination had become instinct.

The next Chief lasted less than a minute.

[Chief Beasts Defeated: 39/50]

The one after that lasted longer. It possessed an armored body that reflected Sun’s attacks and resisted Vedas’s spear. Arthur stepped forward and touched its hide, the information appearing, and he memorized it before stepping back. "Lower abdomen."

Mithra didn’t ask how he knew. She simply moved, her body becoming a blur. The Chief turned. Too late. She struck the exposed section, and Vedas followed. The Beast fell.

[Chief Beasts Defeated: 40/50]

Arthur looked at Mithra.

She smiled. "Don’t look so surprised."

"I wasn’t."

"You were."

"I wasn’t."

Sun laughed. "He’s terrible at lying."

Arthur ignored him.

Another Chief emerged. Then another. Then two at once. The battles blurred together, a golden spear piercing through black armor, a staff shockwave shattering a wall.

Kong tearing a Beast away from Mithra before its claws could reach her, Athy descending like a golden arrow.

Melo’s dream mist covering an entire section of the cavern, Eden’s Sharing spreading across the battlefield, Arthur’s Columns of Light dividing the Chiefs and preventing them from surrounding the group.

[Chief Beasts Defeated: 41/50]

The road shook.

[Chief Beasts Defeated: 42/50]

A Beast fell into an underground river and emerged moments later. Arthur and Vedas attacked together.

[Chief Beasts Defeated: 43/50]

The next territory was enormous.

It looked less like a cavern and more like an underground forest, trees growing from the ceiling, roots covering the ground, streams of glowing water flowing between enormous stones, dozens of Beast tracks covering the soil.

Sun looked around. "This place is ridiculous."

Athena studied the environment. "It isn’t a single ecosystem."

Arthur looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"The underground environment changes every few hundred meters. Swamp, river, forest, volcanic stone, crystal formations." She looked toward the road. "It’s as though the entire route was constructed to support different types of Beasts."

Arthur looked deeper into the forest. "And every one of them is a Chief."

Athena nodded. "Exactly."

Something enormous moved between the trees.

Arthur smiled. "Then let’s keep going."

The battle that followed lasted nearly twenty minutes. It was the longest fight they had experienced since entering the Chief’s Road.

Three Chiefs attacked together, one controlled the roots, another released concentrated beams of light, and the third could disappear into the surrounding forest.

The group was forced to split apart. Arthur used Columns of Light to create separate combat zones. Mithra chased the invisible Chief, Athy tracking it from above.

Melo covered the forest in dream mist. Sun and Kong held the root-controlling Beast in place. Vedas fought the light-based Chief alone. Arthur moved between them all.

For several minutes, there was no clear advantage. Then Eden’s eyes widened. She tugged Arthur’s sleeve. "Right."

Arthur turned. The invisible Chief appeared exactly where Eden had predicted, and his spear was already moving. The golden weapon struck. Mithra followed. The Beast disappeared again.

Athy shouted from above. "Three meters behind you!"

Mithra spun, her blades flashing, and the Chief stumbled directly into Kong’s grasp. Kong slammed it into the ground.

Vedas finished the other Beast at nearly the same moment. Sun’s shockwave shattered the remaining roots. The final Chief tried to escape, and Arthur raised his hand, golden pillars erupting from the earth. The Beast had nowhere to go.

Mithra struck first. Then Vedas. Then Kong. Then Sun. The Chief collapsed.

[Chief Beasts Defeated: 44/50]

Everyone stood still for a moment. Then Sun lowered his staff. "That one was annoying."

Mithra laughed. "You were almost eaten."

"That is why it was annoying."

Another Chief appeared. They killed it before Sun could finish complaining.

[Chief Beasts Defeated: 45/50]

The next two came together. They were enormous. One had wings large enough to cover half the cavern. The other moved beneath the ground, attacking from below.

Arthur immediately raised his hand.

[King’s Mark Authority — Columns of Light]

Golden pillars erupted throughout the battlefield, forcing the flying Chief lower. Athy intercepted it. The ground beneath them exploded, and Kong jumped as the underground Chief emerged, grabbing it by the head. "Got it."

Sun stared. "How?"

Kong shrugged. "Ground moved."

"That’s your explanation?"

Kong nodded. The Beast tried to bite him, and he held its jaws apart while Melo’s dream mist covered its eyes. Vedas appeared, his spear striking, and the flying Chief crashed to the ground at the same time. Mithra finished it.

[Chief Beasts Defeated: 46/50]

The road shook again. Another wave came.

This time, they didn’t stop moving. They fought while advancing, a Chief Beast charging from the left, Vedas intercepting it. Another attacked from above, and Athy redirected it.

A third emerged from the water, and Melo’s mist slowed it. A fourth attempted to circle behind them, and Eden warned Arthur.

He turned. A golden column erupted. The Beast crashed into it. Kong finished it.

[Chief Beasts Defeated: 47/50]

Arthur barely looked at the notification. They were close. Very close.

The final stretch became almost frantic. They crossed one enormous cavern after another, fighting Chiefs wherever the road opened into their territories. There was no longer any hesitation. No wasted movement. No confusion. The group moved like a single organism.

Vedas’s spear swept through a Chief. Mithra followed through the opening. Sun’s shockwave knocked another into Kong’s path, and Kong threw it into a wall. Athy called out another attack. Eden shared the vision. Melo disrupted the enemy formation. Arthur’s Columns of Light separated the battlefield.

The final Chief in the wave collapsed.

[Chief Beasts Defeated: 48/50]

Everyone stopped. For the first time in several minutes, the cavern was quiet.

Arthur looked at the road ahead. Only two remained.

They continued walking. The ancient road narrowed. The roots disappeared. The walls became smooth again. The underground ecosystem gradually gave way to something older. Something deliberate.

Ancient golden markings appeared across the stone.

Athena slowed. "These markings..."

Luna looked around. "We’re getting close."

Arthur didn’t answer. He could feel it too. The atmosphere had changed. There were no more Beast tracks. No more rivers. No more forests. No more territories. Only the road.

It stretched forward into a massive cavern. Arthur stopped. At the entrance, the ancient stone was covered in enormous claw marks. Something had been living inside. Something much larger than the Chiefs they had already fought.

Vedas stepped beside Arthur and looked into the darkness. For several seconds, nothing moved. Then the cavern trembled. Something shifted far inside. A massive silhouette moved behind the darkness, and the ground shook beneath their feet.

Arthur’s eyes narrowed. He looked at the interface.

[Chief Beasts Defeated: 49/50]

Everyone stared into the enormous cavern. Only one Chief remained.

Vedas looked toward the darkness. Then he smiled. "Then let me handle it."

Arthur looked at him.

Vedas tightened his grip around his golden spear. "I’ve been fighting beside you since the beginning." His smile widened. "This one is mine."

Arthur looked at his first Beast Partner. The Goblin who had once been weak enough to need protection. The Beast who had evolved alongside him. Who had fought through every impossible battle. Who had stood beside him from the very beginning.

Arthur smiled. He stepped aside. "Go."

Vedas walked forward. Behind him, the others remained silent.

The enormous cavern shook again.

Vedas didn’t stop.

He walked into the darkness alone.

And somewhere deep inside, the final Chief Beast opened its eyes.