Undead Evolution: From Trash To Divine-Chapter 42: Loss of stars!

Lukas had been hunting for hours. The population of Bloodthirsty Boars in this part of the forest was thinning, and it was getting difficult to find his next target.

He had already expected something like this to happen, so he wasn’t discouraged and instead spread his hunting area wider.

However, he didn’t venture too deep into the forest. Bloodthirsty Boars were territorial; if there was territory, there was bound to be a king.

Thinking up to this point, his eyes unconsciously narrowed to slits.

Bloodthirsty Boar King—a First Sequence monster of legendary rank. This was equivalent to a human awakener at the peak of Body‑Refining Realm. The comparison was slightly flawed though; compared to their human counterparts, star monsters were generally stronger. It would take multiple human warriors of the same realm to kill one star beast. This was also the reason star monsters were so feared.

If his hunting attracted the attention of a Bloodthirsty Boar King... 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Just as he was thinking this, without him realizing, a suffocating silence enveloped his surroundings. The silence was so chilling that Lukas could even hear his own heartbeat, loud and clear. Noticing this strange change, his eyes grew alert. He even stopped breathing.

At some point, the entire forest had come to a standstill as if frozen in time. No wind blew, not a single leaf moved. A creepy feeling filled Lukas’s heart. He felt as if something was watching him from the shadows.

Who could it be! As soon as this thought appeared in his head, Lukas tried to deny it. Phantom Void Steps was an epic‑grade passive. With it working constantly in the background, there were very few creatures that could detect his presence.

Just as he was thinking, another thought popped into his head.

No creature at the First Sequence... what if it’s not First Sequence, but someone above—the fabled Second Sequence?

No, that’s impossible. If that were the case, I would’ve long been dead. Moreover, a creature of that level wouldn’t come to this place, preferring to stay deeper in the forest.

Maybe it was his agitated state or something else, but the rate at which energy disappeared from his stars increased, doubling. It was a state similar to overclocking—Phantom Void Steps working in overdrive, trying to erase Lukas’s presence.

Lukas slowly moved, trying to get further away, when suddenly his eyes narrowed.

Someone’s there.

A few meters away, beneath a large iron tree, sat a young awakener with his back against the trunk. Blood flowed out of the youngster’s mouth in large quantities. The light armor that he wore had completely turned crimson. An expression of pure terror that seemed to have emerged from deep within his soul was etched on the man’s face.

Just one look and Lukas knew the man was long gone. At the moment of his death, he seemed to have been utterly terrified by something.

Hmm... With each passing moment, the situation was becoming even more bizarre. It felt as if he had stepped into a completely different world, totally isolated from the outside.

With cautious steps, Lukas slowly moved closer to the awakener’s corpse, shaking off the strange feeling in his heart.

Once the distance between them was less than ten meters, Lukas flicked his wrist and summoned Tommy.

Space rippled like a curtain of water and Tommy’s imposing figure walked out step by step, a curious look in his hollow eyes, waiting for Lukas’s command.

"Use Minor Summon Authority and summon the Astral Bone Vanguard to investigate this corpse’s condition."

Lukas didn’t want to take any risks, nor did he want anything to happen to Tommy.

For a moment, Tommy didn’t react, seemingly confused, not understanding what Lukas meant by those words.

The two soul‑fires present in its eye sockets flickered, as if doing its very best to carry out the order.

Lukas noticed this and fell silent.

Hmm... It appears only I can use the Minor Summon Authority.

With that thought in mind, he focused and intently chanted:

Come out, Astral Bone Vanguard.

The space between Tommy and Lukas fluctuated, and an undead creature with bones as thick as a giant’s, ancient runes engraved on its frame, walked out. Standing in front of Tommy, the Astral Bone Vanguard looked like a miniature version of him.

Without wasting time, Lukas repeated his order. Under the gaze of both Lukas and Tommy, step by step the Astral Bone Vanguard moved closer to the awakener’s corpse in the distance. Lukas finally let out a sigh of relief when nothing exploded after the Vanguard’s bony fingers touched the body.

Finding such a perfectly preserved corpse in the Iron Tree Forest during a monster horde was a huge red flag.

While the Astral Bone Vanguard was searching for anything precious, Lukas’s expression turned slightly pale as he noticed one glaring detail.

"Stars...? Hmm? Where did they go?"

Lukas was scanning the awakener’s body from head to toe when he noticed there were no star‑shaped patterns on the man’s hand.

His first thought was that he was hallucinating. These stars not only held the star energy absorbed from the atmosphere but were also a sign of identity. Depending on their potential, an awakener could have either one star or as many as nine.

Compared to someone with one star, an awakener with nine stars had nine times the star‑energy reserve in the same realm.

Just as he was questioning reality, as if hit by a bolt of lightning, Lukas remembered a rumor he had heard when he first arrived in the Star Dimension.

A mysterious monster that devours awakeners’ stars...

At first he had dismissed the rumor. After all, how was that even possible?

But now, the cold corpse forced him to rethink.

This realization caused a chill to run down every fiber of his being. Unknowingly, he had walked into a danger that was even greater than the beast horde.

Just as he was thinking, suddenly the soul‑fire in Tommy’s eyes flickered. His bony figure suddenly turned toward one particular direction, the star‑energy runes on its body letting out a bleeding light, as if it had just sensed something dangerous.

What...! Lukas’s heart almost jumped out of his chest. The monster hadn’t left; it was still lingering here.

In the distance, large shadows cast by the giant iron trees seemed to come to life, twisting and turning, rising upward to form a creature that looked like a strange cross between a human and a spider. Multiple hands made out of shadow emerged from its back. What was most eye‑catching was the lone star that pulsed like a divine totem carved on its forehead.

Upon noticing Lukas in the distance, the mysterious monster let out a loud shriek.