Reincarnated Hero System

Evan moved in a flash, faster than the sound could reach him, channelling magic power into his ears to block out the sonic assault.

With a quick teleport, he appeared in front of Artemisia and Beatrix who hadn’t yet seen the monster, enveloping them both in an elemental shield.

Then the sound hit, cracking against his shield, but it held firm.

Seeing the danger, Artemisia and Beatrix immediately followed his lead, cloaking their ears in energy to dull the impact.

Though the noise still gritted on their nerves, it no longer had the disorienting effect it had before.

The sonic blast cut off as the ogre’s vortex which lost its target in the form of Evan, struck the smaller creature, throwing it to the side and interrupting its attack.

Evan seized the moment, teleporting back to the T-junction and calling over his shoulder to Beatrix and Artemisia.

“You two take care of the screamer. I’ve got this one.”

After knowing that these monsters had a weakness in the form of their artificial divine cores, Evan had a hunch about this one’s core location.

He warped through space, appearing behind the creature and letting the spatial disruption of the Space Warp skill ripple through its body. It reeled, just as Evan’s blade began to blaze with a fusion of ice, destruction essence, and flames—his Elemental Destruction Fusion.

“World Sunder.”

Evan swung his blade down, aiming for its neck and as he suspected, a swirling vortex of wind appeared behind the monster, blocking his strike.

‘As I thought, that’s a defence mechanism. Its core is most likely in its neck”

His sword cut through the wind barrier with ease, unlike what happened the first time he slashed it.

This wasn’t like the normal slash with no energy he had used earlier, but the power of a Unique Skill that he had mimicked.

The attack potency was on a different level.

His blade cleaved through the wind vortex, tearing into the ogre’s skin and slicing through the artificial divine core embedded at the back of its neck.

The monster crumpled to its knees, its head rolling off and Evan landed on the floor, ready to rush forward and help Beatrix and Artemisia.

But as he took a step, he quickly realized his assistance was unnecessary. Artemisia and Beatrix already had the situation under control.

Artemisia unleashed her evolution powers, forcefully devolving the monster’s durability, making its body more vulnerable and Beatrix seized the opening, her spear slicing through the air as Spatial Rend tore through the creature’s defences as though they weren’t even there.

With a thrust, she activated the technique she had used against Evan yesterday and five spears manifested from wormholes, piercing the monster and pinning it in place.

Her eyes glowed as she used her spear as a conduit, scanning the monster’s body.

Just as the creature’s face began to hollow out again, preparing to release another beam of energy, Evan raised a finger, unleashing an energy blast straight into the opening.

He snapped his fingers, detonating his energy and it clashed with the divinity in the creature’s mouth, triggering an internal explosion that obliterated its head from within.

Still, they knew this wouldn’t kill it, so Beatrix ignored the blood that splashed on her and reached out with her hand.

Spatial power surged through her hand and it phased through the creature’s body, reaching into the lower left side, where she found its core. She clenched her fist and activated Spatial Crush, shattering the core in an instant, which made the creature convulse once, and then collapse into a lifeless heap.

“Nice work. Looks like that takes care of—”

Evan cut off mid-sentence, as his Danger Sense flared, sending alarms through his mind.

‘Again?!’

He spun around, only to see the monster he’d obliterated earlier standing tall, regenerating its upper body. Skin squelched and organs melded grotesquely back together as it resumed its terrifying form.

“Wait… I didn’t get the core?”

The realization dawned on him: he hadn’t felt the familiar pulse of experience from the kill and this made him curse inwardly.

The monster roared, fists swinging down toward him, but Evan was faster, warping out of the way and reappearing behind it.

‘If the upper body wasn’t enough, the core must be in the lower half.’

He stomped down on the monster’s back, activating Harbinger of Ice and encased the monster in thick, biting frost, turning it into an ice sculpture.

The temperature dropped drastically as he willed the ice closer to absolute zero, every bit of warmth draining from the air around them.

‘Can’t go all the way, but -200 degrees should do it.’

The temperature around them plummeted sharply and even though Artemisia and Beatrix stood a dozen meters away, they felt the chill creeping up their spines.

Beatrix shivered slightly, rubbing her shoulders, while Artemisia wrapped her arms around herself, exhaling visible breaths into the frigid air.

At negative 200 degrees, Evan glanced back at them, a serious edge to his voice.

“Hey, if you’re not resistant enough to heat, I’d back up… now.”

Without a second’s pause, he cranked up the heat, launching it from a freezing -100 degrees to an inferno-like 500 degrees in an instant.

The sudden change was catastrophic—walls warped, the steel structure around them melted into glowing pools, and the ground beneath began to liquefy.

The Forsaken Divine’s body, still brittle from the intense cold, fractured violently. Chunks of its flesh and sinew crumbled, leaving behind a brittle shell that shattered, unable to withstand the blistering heat.

In the debris, Evan spotted the artificial divine core, now riddled with cracks and with a kick, he sent it skidding across the molten ground, and it disintegrated into dust upon impact.

Evan dropped back down, landing smoothly, completely unaffected by the sweltering heat that could kill a man.

His ears perked up at the sound of approaching footsteps and he turned to see three more Forsaken Divines appear at the far end of the hallway, each with their organs visible and swirling grotesquely in different parts of their bodies.

He turned to Artemisia and Beatrix, a hint of urgency in his tone.

“We need more space. Fighting these things in tight quarters is asking for trouble.”

He dashed forward, picking up speed, and the three Forsaken Divines roared and lurched forward in pursuit.

The Fake Divines barrelled after him, unfazed by the scorching temperatures. Even though Evan’s rapid heat spike had set the hallway ablaze, the creatures didn’t even flinch as their legs caught fire, and one of them—likely the weakest—melted entirely in the inferno, flesh dripping to the floor as it disintegrated.

The others trudged forward, flames licking their limbs, the air heavy with the scent of burnt flesh.

Evan caught up to Beatrix, still running as he asked.

“Hey, Beatrix, that large test tube hall we found earlier—how far away is it?”

She held up her hand, conjuring a three-dimensional map she’d been mentally piecing together since they’d entered this labyrinthine facility.

“Let’s see… Forward, left, left again, then right, another left, two rights, and then swing around. That’ll get us there.”

Evan wore an incredulous expression in response to her words.

“What the hell? Why does that sound like a Kombat of Mortals combo or cheat code?”

Beatrix shot him a bewildered look, confusion flashing in her eyes.

“I have no idea what Kombat of Mortals is.”

“Of course, you don’t, it’s a game from 10,000 years in the future.”

When Evan responded in such a manner, Artemisia who was running alongside them rolled her eyes and interjected.

“Less talking, more running!”

As they pressed on, Beatrix spread out her spatial power, searching for a closer open space and it didn’t take her long to catch onto something.

“Straight ahead, then a left, another left—there’s a large area just within reach. My spatial perception is detecting a large open space.”

They went down a short flight of stairs, made their way through the maze-like corridors, following Beatrix’s directions, and finally arrived at a pair of heavy double doors.

Artemisia led the charge, pushing the doors open, with Beatrix close behind. Evan trailed in last, but as he stepped through, he felt something strange—a subtle, almost imperceptible sensation, like passing through an invisible barrier.

The other two fanned out, oblivious to the change, while Evan hesitated, his attention pulled to a notification that appeared in his field of vision.

|Adaptive Evolution has been triggered. |

|Memory Reading Resistance has been acquired. |

Evan’s eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed in suspicion at the sight before him. Adaptive Evolution triggered in response to phenomena, so it triggering now meant someone or something had just tried to read his memories!

Before he could fully process it, his Danger Sense flared again. He turned just in time to see that several more hallways led into the room he just entered, each one pouring forth a new set of Forsaken Divines.

One had already spotted him, hurling a swirling vortex of wind in his direction.

Without hesitation, Evan leapt further into the hall, dodging the attack as he vaulted into the air to survey their surroundings.

The hall was enormous—a far larger version of the one they’d encountered earlier, with rows upon rows of test tubes stretching across the vast space.

Like the previous hall, most of the tubes were shattered, but a few still stood intact, filled with strange liquids and rotten lifeforms inside.

The place was as large as a stadium, with a dome ceiling and an observation deck perched high above.

Evan spun mid-air as he surveyed the area and then landed, but the instant he hit the ground, he sprang back up, as he’d seen something blur past in his vision.

He jumped up high in the air again, the something that his eyes caught onto earlier also caught sight of him.

“Hey, Beatrix! You forgot to mention the crowd already waiting for us in here!”