Void Evolution System



The entrance to Ghost King's Crevice simply didn't exist.

Many had attempted to reshape the land for convenience in the years this sub-universe had existed, but none of their solutions managed to remain present as time passed.

Because the Impulse Wave was a truly destructive event. It tore the world apart and rebuilt it from scratch, remodeling the scenery in its natural form without the manmade changes that influenced it.

The strangest thing was…the Impulse Wave killed everything in the realm until the very edge of Ghost King's Crevice. Unless one was deep underground or in the safe area before the crevice, death was inevitable and instant.

Nevertheless, because of this unpredictable phenomenon, attempts to terraform the land ceased thousands of years ago.

The only way to enter the crevice was to descend its steep wall.

"The Ghostly Wind strikes once an hour. For the 10 minutes it blows, the undead and netherworld spirits in the ravine go crazy and attack everything in sight. If ya wanna make yer way down, we should go now. Since that bald bastard is back, the Ghostly Wind must've just passed."

Bertram, the little old man Damien hired as a guide, explained the crevice's ecosystem to the group as he led them past the stalls filled with guides and to the cliff's edge.

"Falling from here with ya strength capped is an easy death, old boy. Ya won't find a more peaceful way to die after this," he remarked with a grin, fearlessly standing at the very edge of the land.

Damien raised his brow as he took a peek over it.

The drop was an unknown distance, as fog covered the sight of what lay beyond roughly 300 meters down, but it could be imagined how deep it was from the aura of emptiness one felt when gazing into it.

Damien in particular had plenty of experience falling through unnecessarily deep holes, and despite the fact that he could likely teleport himself to safety if he happened to fall, he didn't want to risk it.

If there was a restriction he didn't know of at the bottom, he was in for a world of pain.

"So how do you suggest we get down this thing?" he asked, looking curiously at Bertram.

"Well, isn't that simple?" the old man responded with a grin. "I'm the greatest guide alive!"

Bertram kneeled down and took a 3-foot-long steel rod-like object out of his spatial storage and stabbed it into the cliff wall below. Afterward, he took out another circular device and simply…tossed it into the abyss.

He stood up and put his hand over his eyes, watching its trajectory before nodding.

"Spot on as always."

Damien and the girls had no clue what was happening and could only watch with strange expressions as he hopped onto the narrow rod and kicked its sides, causing it to expand into a platform large enough to hold their group.

"Hop on quickly! If ya miss it, ya miss it!" He exclaimed, ushering them forward.

Damien shrugged and followed his instructions, and the girls did the same after seeing that his weight didn't affect the platform at all.

They once again looked at Bertram in confusion, just in time to see him snap his fingers.

"Good! We're dropping! Don't move until ya hit solid ground!"

"Dro–"

Damien's eyes widened.

The floor gave out below his feet.

"—pping?!"

His senses went alert as he began falling through the air, the others not far above him.

'Fuck! What a great intuition!' Damien exclaimed inwardly, dreading the drop to come.

However…

"Huh?"

His expression changed as he noticed that his body was actually…falling in slow motion?

No, it was like he was being lowered by a pulley system, yet far smoother.

"That device…can levitate people?!" He said excitedly.

Yeah, he could fly, but levitation like this was something different!

'The home decor possibilities are limitless!'

The thought process of a newly engaged man was really something.

The smooth descent the group experienced didn't have any value to him from a technical standpoint. His mind was filled with ideas of various applications of aesthetic levitation, at least, until they made it past the 300-meter mark.

The Netherworld Fog enveloped them, sending shivers down their spines.

The aura of death was suffocating, and very faintly, they could feel the screams of tortured souls boring into their souls.

"Hmph."

Elena released her Life Mana and formed a barrier around the group, shielding them from the deathly aura, but she no longer had the power to protect their souls.

Damien glanced at her with a smile before snapping his fingers and creating a spatial wall around her barrier, filling it with vector points that reflected any fluctuation that impacted it.

They met peace after another hundred meters of descent with these barriers in place, attracting a shocked gaze from Bertram.

The descent into Ghost King's Crevice was slow on purpose. Meeting the Netherworld Fog and experiencing the stress it caused was a baptism, a hazing for newbies entering the zone. It was meant to give them an idea of how dangerous the journey would be and make them aware of the importance of following orders.

Experts who had spent so long developing themselves tended to have individualistic attitudes that didn't bend to the whims of others, but if they wanted to survive, and if the guides wanted to build a reputation that'd get them more jobs, they needed to do what they were told!

A situation like this was rare. It was clear Damien's group hadn't done the extensive preparation most did from their attitudes, but their skills were enough to compensate for it.

A group like this…with them, maybe Bertram could finally get rid of his "scammer" status!

His routes weren't deathly, they were truly the best.

But the best routes could only be traversed by the best groups.

It was that simple.

Thud!

Damien's feet landed on solid ground after 5 minutes of calm descent. As expected, the circular platform Bertram put down earlier had expanded into a landing zone that supported the levitation effect.

Damien spread his awareness immediately without leaving its bounds, scanning the crevice.

Unfortunately…

'Of course there's a restriction.'

The Netherworld Fog didn't allow his perception to spread more than ten feet away from his body.

'At this length, I won't be able to detect threats before it's too late. Crossing a distance of ten feet is instant even for 2nd class beings.'

"What're ya doin' standin' around? Come out already!"

Bertram's voice pulled him out of his thoughts. The old man and the girls were already off the platform and waiting for him, making him a bit embarrassed.

'Haa, whatever.' Damien sighed inwardly. He walked off the platform and joined them while accepting the inevitability of the restriction, instead looking towards the walls.

'Danger is everywhere, huh.'

The first struggle of the Ghost King's Crevice: Human-Faced Spiders.

They were deep black and blended in with the shadows, the only indication of their existence the faint sight of the smiling human faces on their abdomens that poked out of the shadows.

Human-Faced Spiders had natural venom strong enough to permanently paralyze a 3rd class, let alone a 2nd class.

And what made them terrible was the fact that they weren't individualistic, they were pack animals.

If one attacked, at least 10 others were lying in wait for the perfect opportunity.

Bertram especially warned them about the danger the spiders posed while leading them along the crevice's wall without going deeper in.

"We're gonna trek a few kilometers to reach the entrance point into the fog. Rest yer minds now before it's too late."

Damien and the girls nodded, accepting the millionth warning Bertram had given them in the past 10 minutes and continued following him, but…

…was it just them, or did it feel a little windy?