Evolving My Undead Legion In A Game-Like World

Chapter 788: Resolve (End of Volume 3)

When he returned to Aurora, he would not allow that distance to widen further.

He would evolve them.

His aunt. His cousin.

If they remained ordinary while he continued forward, time itself would become an enemy. One day he would look back and realize they had grown old while he had not.

He would not accept that.

With evolution, they would live longer. Far longer. They would gain the ability to cultivate, to at least stand on the same road, even if they walked it at a different pace. They would have the choice to stay with him, to see where this journey led, instead of being forced to stop at the edge.

Michael knew the risks.

Once someone stepped onto this path, there was no true return to ignorance. The world became larger, harsher, and far less forgiving. But he also knew this was a journey he could no longer abandon.

If he was going to walk it, then he would love to not walk it alone.

Michael closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again, calm restored but sharper than before.

He would handle Arianna’s distance when the time came.

For now, his advancement quest was what was most important.

Michael’s gaze sharpened.

With a thought, the familiar translucent panel unfolded before his eyes, hovering quietly in the air as if it had always been there, waiting.

[Rank Advancement Mission: Rank Two → Rank Three]

His eyes moved over the requirements without haste.

The first condition was already clear.

Comprehend a Law.

Progress: 62%

Michael exhaled slowly.

That number alone would have stunned most awakeners. Law comprehension was not something measured in percentages for the majority. People either brushed against it by accident or spent decades circling its edges without ever grasping its core. Sixty-two percent meant he had already crossed the most painful threshold. The law was no longer foreign to him. It was taking shape inside his soul, aligning itself with his existence.

The remaining thirty-eight percent was not trivial, but it was no longer uncertain. It was a matter of refinement, of depth, of time spent understanding until the universe fully acknowledged him and his understanding of its truth.

The second condition followed.

Possess five Rank Three Undead.

Michael’s expression did not change.

Even after the catastrophe in Hell, after losing more than a hundred undead in a single stretch of devastation, this requirement was almost laughable. He still had enough resources and suitable foundations to fulfill it several times over if he wished. The losses had been heavy, yes, but he did not believe they had crippled him.

Two tasks standing like walls. Complete them and advance.

But Michael was not satisfied with that.

His eyes lingered on the panel, not on what it demanded, but on what it did not.

Bare minimum advancement was safe. Predictable. Stable.

And mediocre.

Michael had already learned what happened when he exceeded the system’s expectations. The last time he broke past the baseline, the rewards had not merely been better. They had been transformative. His foundation had thickened. His growth rate had accelerated. His future potential had widened in ways no standard advancement could compare to.

That was what he wanted again.

No.

That was what he required.

"If I’m going to advance," Michael murmured quietly, "then I’m not stopping at the line."

Five Rank Three undead was the requirement.

That did not mean five was the limit.

If he pushed further, and if he could force a limit break in the advancement mission itself...

His thoughts quickened.

A limit break Rank Three advancement would not merely place him at the early stage of the rank.

With the right preparation, with enough excess power and law integration, he could step directly into the advanced stages of Rank Three the moment he ascended.

That was the goal.

Michael had no intention of stopping at its doorstep.

He dismissed the panel with a flicker of intent, the light fading as his resolve settled into place.

However, there was something else.

Something that bothered him.

Michael looked at the empty air in front of him and spoke calmly, without hesitation.

"Origin Will," he said. "Are you there?"

The tea room remained silent.

No response.

Not even the faint disturbance he sometimes felt when that presence acknowledged him indirectly.

Michael did not frown.

He had not truly expected an answer.

In his mind, the decision had already been made.

The title the Origin Will had granted him was not a blessing in the simple sense. It was also a restraint. A limiter placed deliberately on his growth. While others could surge forward rapidly through experience points, stacking gains recklessly, Michael could not.

This made Michael believe that the order of his rank advancement tasks mattered.

If Michael completed the law comprehension first and the Origin Will acknowledged it before his second task was finished, then the system would lock his advancement parameters around that state. Any attempt to exceed the baseline afterward would be restricted.

That would be his loss.

So he would not allow it.

He would finish the second condition first. Far beyond what was required.

Only then would he allow the law to reach completion.

Michael spoke again, his voice quieter this time.

"I wish for my advancement to proceed smoothly."

Again, there was no response.

Yet this time, he felt it.

Not sound.

Not movement.

A gaze.

It brushed against him briefly, distant and vast, as if something immeasurable had turned its attention toward him for the span of a single breath.

Michael searched for it out of instinct.

And, like always, found nothing.

The presence withdrew as silently as it had come.

Michael let out a slow breath and did not pursue it further.

That was enough.

There were many things he did not know about the Origin Will. Many rules he had yet to fully understand. But ignorance did not mean helplessness.

"I want to, no, I need to get stronger."

*

A/N; End of Volume 3.

Volume 4: Rank 3, the universe geniuses and..... Unrivalled?