Mummy Evolution-Chapter 9: KILL! KILL!

Ale Bon's eyes flickered to the back as he heard a thumping sound.

"What was that?" he asked the big man standing behind him.

"I don't know," the big man said, turning his sword towards the noise. "It felt like something heavy falling. Maybe a guardian."

"Maybe a trap got activated by a mummy," Ale Bon said, wondering if he should be ready to use his Axiom. "Mummies are so—"

His words died in his throat as horror bubbled within his heart. Someone, something, sharp and cold stabbed him from the back—through his throat.

It was done so silently, so profoundly, that he didn't even get the chance to finish what he wanted to say.

The blade accurately entered the small slit between his helmet and armor, and even pierced his wood-like skin, before utterly stabbing through his entire throat.

The only thing he saw was a rusted blade, of which only the tip remained in his sight,

"Which b—" Blood bubbled out of his throat and he fell limp.

No matter how powerful one was, as long as their body wasn't impervious to blades, they would die if they were stabbed from the back with such a perfect attack.

The last thing Ale Bon saw was his butler and childhood friend, the Big Man—Benzei—turning around to stare at him with horrified eyes.

...

Benzei felt his skin crawl.

What had just happened?

Hearing the sound of gurgled breathing, he turned around and stared at Ale Bon. The man had been pierced by a pitch black, rusted sword. And he hadn't even been able to resist.

"Where are you?!" Benzei growled, eyes red. "Who did this?"

Nobody answered him, and there was no one in sight either.

Tak, tak, tak.

The sound of a falling rock echoed from his back and he whirled around. But immediately after, he turned back to look at the corpse. Sword pointed right infront of him. He wouldn't fall for the same ambush twice.

No assassin from the front, he thought grimly. Where is it?

Benzei saw the shadow of someone's movement flicker slightly near the corner of the wall. Someone was hiding there, he knew it.

A burst of shame, fear, and anger rushed through Benzei and flourishing his sword, he ran towards the enemy with abandon.

The shadow, as if frightened, moved away from the corner too. And that only emboldened Benzei, making him roar as he ran forward even faster.

He finally turned the corner and got a sight of the assassin—he froze for a moment.

It was a woman.She was naked, but she used her hands to cover her privates as she ran, looking back at him fearfully.

Benzei felt his heart grow cold with rage.

But he also felt an inexplicable fear.

How bizarre was this?

A naked beautiful woman running in a Tomb with her skin seemingly glowing in the darkness?

Bizarre.

Before he could think though, Benzei's face changed.

Something entangled his legs and he tripped, falling down due to the momentum. His helmet-encased head slammed into the Tomb's floor, thudding dully.

He wanted to stand up and chase the woman again, he wanted to remove the linen wrappings now entangling his legs, the ones that had tripped him.

Wasn't this linen the bandages usually seen on mummies?

Benzei's eyes widened as something sharp pierced through his throat with mind-numbing pain.

Rigid, he turned around and met indifferent, lifeless eyes of a mummy.

Then, Benzei was no more.

...

Sett got rid of the other stones in his hand and looked at the fearful—disgusted—Zarah. She was staring at him from the distance, her naked skin glowing in the ambient Tomb-Light. She looked like a goddess of beauty, her curvaceous physique an art of utmost glory.

He wanted to call out to her, but before Sett could do that, he felt a wave of incredible warmth enter him. Energy wafted out of the corpses surrounding him, their skin and bones shrinking to become like a bark without any juices within. And that very energy thrummed throughout his body, making him feel incredibly warm.

It was warm—so embracingly warm.

As if he had reached his home from an icy weather, as if he were embracing a wife, in throes of passion, or in play. As if he were a dead man being embraced—by life itself.

Ha...

He groaned softly.

This warmth was different from the warmth he received when murdering mummies. Not only in the way it tasted, but also in the way it benefited him. Ignoring the absolute pleasure thrumming through his body, Sett looked at the screen before him, eyes dazzling.

Unlike killing mummies, killing humans—or any living beings for that matter—didn't increase the progression bar for "Limitless Evolution Art".

Instead, killing living beings increased the progression for Cryptwalker Pathway instead, which made Sett feel all sorts of pleasure while at it.

[Cryptwalker Progress + 250]

["Low" Tier 1 Guardian Mummy evolution requirements met!]

[250/100]

As he watched, the points blurred.

100 points were deducted from the 250 and his evolution began.

Sett took in an effervescent breath.

His whole body shivered, and as Zainah watched, his rotten flesh began to wriggle. Some of his blood vessels that were torn and dry reconnected with its counterparts, then that happened with all of his other blood vessels. Soon enough, almost all his blood vessels were clearly connected.

Updat𝓮d fr𝙤m ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com.

But that did nothing for Sett other than making him much stronger than just seconds ago. He was still a mummy—incapable of feeling touch, smell, taste or lust.

Yet, Sett remained calm for now, his years of hardened will not so easily broken.

His earlier body with skin and muscles as solid as strong wood was much stronger now, his muscles felt as if they were made of bronze itself.

Sett blinked, looking at his wrinkled, pale arms.

He was experienced with having all sorts of physical strength. Having been weak, strong, and average, he had long learned how to evaluate his own strength roughly. With his current body, he was sure that he could lift more than 1000 kilograms of weight.

He could also move with enough speed to dodge most hand-thrown projectiles.

Sett licked his lips with his dry tongue.

[Successfully evolved to Tier 1 "Mid" level Guardian Mummy]

[Progress: 150/100]

Sett felt the warmth within him circle another round throughout him and his back arched in warmth. His dead organs began to mend themselves, most of the dry, lifeless blobs visible through the tears in his stomach becoming a bit glistening.

["Mid" Tier 1 Guardian Mummy evolution requirements met!]

100 progress points blurred and vanished.

Sett closed his eyes while Zainah observed.

Dead corpses, no matter how well preserved, have dry organs. But now, Sett's organs were starting to release a bit of the needed water content and glistened slightly in the ambient Tomb-Light.

As she watched, everything except his skin and torn flesh seemingly repaired itself. He seemed truly freshly dead now.

[Successfully evolved to "High" level Tier-1 Guardian Mummy]

[Progress: 50/100]

Sett's body began to cool down but even as it did that, he could feel his bones harden into iron-like rigidity. His flesh felt as if they were refined metal. His muscles were also taut, simply an explosion of power hiding within them.

And in the see-through hole in the middle of his heart, five more Tomb Hearts also appeared out of thin air. In total, six Tomb Hearts, each now as small as a fingertip, floated around as if in joy.

Yet, even as all the waves of energies slowly calmed down and his strength reached a new crescendo, Sett felt disappointment linger around him.

He still did not have most of his major senses.

Taste, touch, smell. Without those, wouldn't living be worthless?

Unable to enjoy the warmth of his women, incapable of tasting their cooking, and unable to smell their exhilarating scent.

Wasn't that torturous?

Can a mummy ever regain those?

Perhaps, once all of his organs and such regains their first rate conditions, he would regain his functions.

But for now, he shook his head and focused on what mattered right now.

The two people he had just killed had both absorbed a total of five Tomb Hearts, which he had absorbed all into himself. Tomb Raiders couldn't do that. They cannot become stronger by killing other Tomb Raiders.

Only Mummies can do that!

And now, he had a legitimate way to grow stronger once he left the Tomb—if he could that is—and that was to kill Tomb Raiders. That was much, much easier than raiding tombs. He looked at his Pathways silently.

—

[Crypt Walker]

D-Tier (T1)—

"High" Guardian Mummy.

(Progress: 50/100)

Total Tomb Hearts: 6.

—