Rowan's agony intensified beyond anything he'd ever felt. His body was on the verge of breaking through, the evolution nearing its completion. The dark mist swirling around him grew denser, wrapping him in a shroud of shadow.
Anyone who saw the dark mist would definitely suspect that he was getting possessed by some demon or evil dark creature.
[ Improving core compatibility... 88% ]
Each percentage felt like an eternity. The searing pain coursed through his veins, and his bones felt as if they were being reshaped by an unseen force.
Rowan gritted his teeth to manage the pain.
If he had an option, he would've given up at this point, given how painful the whole process was. Sadly, he couldn't.
As the pain intensified, Rowan couldn't help but wonder what his future evolutions would be like. Would the pain increase? Without a skill like [Resistance] to evolve, wouldn't he die from the pain?
GROWL
Rowan was still questioning himself when a terrifying bestial growl blasted across the area.
The sound of birds flying away and smaller animals escaping could be heard, making the situation more horrifying.
"Monsters?" Rowan pondered, surprised.
He managed to lift his head off the ground to observe his surroundings, even though his vision was blurry thanks to the anguish conquering his body from within.
Behold, even with blurry vision, Rowan was greeted with the scene of gigantic demonic wolves approaching.
"This is bad..." Rowan thought.
With the pain he was going through right now, he wouldn't be able to defend himself against these powerful demonic wolves!
Thankfully, he had a divine beast companion. But calling it out was really difficult since he couldn't speak properly and even his mind was fuzzy.
But the feeling of death drawing closer boosted his strength, and he managed to call Blaze out of the divine beast plain.
Blaze stood in front of Rowan defensively, staring at the group of demonic wolves drawing closer. Blaze had grown so much in the short time it had been in the divine beast plain, it was now almost the size of a full-grown lion. Its fur was much longer now, and its greyness shone brilliantly.
Blaze let out a furious growl as its eyes blazed with anger.
Although they were of the same monster species, he couldn't and wouldn't forgive them for even harboring the intention to hurt Rowan.
Rowan kept his hand down, as holding it up became difficult, painful, and almost impossible. Nevertheless, he could hear the bloodthirsty growls from Blaze and the demonic werewolves.
Soon the sound of their clashes reached Rowan.
Sounds of sharp claws swishing through the air.
Sounds of fireballs blasting and the growls of the wolves as they engaged in combat spread across the area.
[ Finalizing evolution... 97% ]
While the battle took place, the evolution got even closer to completion.
But it became really slow following the 97% mark.
Fortunately, the pain did not increase. It reduced slowly.
[ Your pet has suffered a ghastly wound ]
Another set of notifications began to reach him.
"Fuck, why is the evolution taking so much time!" Rowan cussed when he received the notification that his pet was in trouble.
What he felt at this moment was akin to a father stepping up to protect his child.
Blaze's pained growl could be heard as the group of demonic wolves ganged up on it and tried their hardest to kill him.
The demonic wolves were really fast, and their claws contained poisonous substances that made the wounds they left on Blaze more painful.
Fortunately, Blaze was also pretty fast and also possessed fire magic as his trump card, which gave him a little advantage.
The demonic wolves were fearless, but they tried their hardest to prevent their fur from catching on fire.
Blaze surrounded itself with a wall of fire using [Flame Synchronization] and prevented the wolves from getting too close to it.
Unfortunately, it still had to protect Rowan, and thus, each time one of the demonic wolves moved closer to Rowan, it would call off the wall of fire and go to defend him.
"Master, be fast... They are so many in number, I can't hold up for too long," Blaze said to Rowan telepathically.
Rowan heard it but couldn't reply.
Minutes passed as Blaze continued defending and Rowan continued experiencing the pain of evolution.
[ Finalizing evolution... 99% ]
"Just one percent remaining!" Rowan thought.
He had received a lot of notifications about Blaze getting more wounds inflicted by the demonic wolves. He couldn't wait for everything to end so he could help Blaze, slay the wolves, and earn back the evolution points he had spent evolving.
Not too far away from Rowan, Blaze was standing in the midst of fire and bleeding profusely from all parts of its body. Blaze managed to kill seven out of the group of fifty demonic wolves, plus their leader who hadn't attacked since the brawl began.
The pack leader sat down several meters away, observing the battle without reacting.
The other demonic wolves formed circles around him, ready to attack and devour him anytime soon.
The pack leader observed its minions struggling with Blaze for a few minutes.
It let out a disappointed growl before standing up from its previous sitting position.
Its huge figure, combined with the feisty look in its glowing, cold red eyes, made it a menacing and terrifying sight to behold.
Without wasting time, it began strolling towards the others, its huge figure making loud thump sounds as it approached.
Blaze turned to look at the approaching pack leader and gritted his teeth.
[ Your pet is under danger... Death is 200% possible! ]
Rowan received a notification.
Almost at the same time, the pack leader let out a terrifying howl that caused the area to go eerily silent for a few seconds.
"Fuck!" Rowan cussed.
The evolution was taking too much time!
"This is bad!"
Even Blaze became extremely terrified—the demonic pack leader was not only stronger, but it was about three times bigger in size. It would end Blaze without expending too much energy.
The odds at this moment were pretty bad.
But just then.
DING!
[ EVOLUTION SUCCESSFUL ]
[ YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY EVOLVED ]
[ NEW SKILL HAS BEEN ADDED ]