Void Evolution System

Whoosh!

The setting completely changed.

If there was a benefit to the Eternal Darkness, it was that tdidn't exist. Its perception depended entirely on the individual, which meant that prolonged periods in the realm could lead to the perception of eternity and shatter the victim's mind.

August wasn't trapped for nearly that long. He was still exploring the darkness and trying to brainstorm a way out of his current predicament when it was solved for him.

So, he didn't realize that even a week had passed. In his perception, it had been only a few hours.

Perhaps that was why he faced such confusion immediately upon his return.

Eris was gone, and the environment was in shambles. He could sense in the distance that both castles and all cities in this area were now in ruins, and though there weren't many people present, there were a few.

'Those auras…what are they?'

Dragons, definitely, but a species he didn't recognize.

Why were they here?

What happened to the rest of the geniuses?

No, what happened to Arulion?

'This isn't right.'

August didn't take long to comprehend that the the perceived was not what passed in reality.

The only question in his mind was if it had been too long.

After all, the stench of blood was overwhelming. Not just from the territories, but from everywhere in the surrounding area.

'I need to find the others.'

Before he moved recklessly, he had to meet up with someone he knew to learn about what took place during his absence.

'But first…'

It was better for him to gain a preliminary understanding before moving at all.

From the looks of it, the people in the territories were scavengers who didn't have much individual power. The aura of blood around them served as proof that they had committed many murders before arriving here. It was easy to connect them to the stench in the air, but their low power levels made him think otherwise.

Regardless of their circumstances, August could definitely gain something from confronting them.

Boom!

He immediately sprung into action.

August was in his dragon form still, but there was no point in hiding it anymore. Whether it was the common populace or the Holy Clans, everyone knew his identity already.

Those who didn't know better would only have no idea what to think of the information, so they'd just forget about it and move on to other things.

Those who cared would attack him whether he was in human form or dragon form, so it was more important to stay in a state where he could put up a fight regardless of enemy or circumstance.

In a way, it was freeing. Now that he was in the open, only his enemies had to be mindful of their actions.

August could now do whatever he wanted without having to worry.

He flew through the air like a comet and immediately arrived above a group of scavengers. They had pale skin and scholarly appearances, as if they had never fought a day in their lives. Still, they kept in their hands artifacts with immense auras that made August wary.

"Ni he bansa stroe!" One of the pale-skinned dragons yelled.

Her voice was raspy and more of a hiss than anything else, and the language was not one that August recognized.

As someone who was able to study many languages in his youth, this cas a surprise to him.

'They're definitely dragons, and strong ones at that.' August commented to himself while glancing at the orbs in their hands that had started to glow.

Their appearances didn't give off auras of strength, but August could immediately tell through their eyes that they were intelligent.

"Who are you?"

He asked without expecting an answer. He did receive one, but it didn't mean much at all.

"Rehavak!"

The orbs shined with a furious light as the ambient mana collected within. Suddenly, everything they absorbed was merged by strings of light connecting the orbs and outputted as one massive beam.

VOOOOOOM!

August's eyes widened slightly.

He flapped his wings to make sdistance and released his own power.

The power of a true Azure Dragon, that is.

CRACK!

The sky split open as a crack formed in reality. Through it, countless tons of seawater spilled to the surface.

The instant it cout of the fissure, it entered August's control and concentrated into a beam that matched the size of the one coming closer. In one smooth motion, August pushed himself out of the incoming beam's trajectory and fired his own, resulting in a huge clash.

BOOOOOM!

One almost wouldn't believe that August's power source was liquid. It seemed more like energy as it clashed against the beam of pure mana and pushed it back.

There was a concept of "solubility" that could be used here if it was twisted by August's intentions.

To perceive mana as something that could melt and merge into the water to becsomething greater took swork, but August in all of his power could do it easily.

His water devoured the pure mana from the incoming beam and empowered itself over and over again. The closer it got to the surface of the earth where the scavengers were, the stronger it became.

"If you don't want to die, then surrender!" August shouted.

These people seemed foreign, but they had to know the universal language. It was something provided by the system, and there wasn't a single sentient being in this land that was born outside of the system's influence.

They may have decided to speak their native language instead, and that wasn't an issue with August, but if they didn't want to be turned into ash, then they needed to stop being stubborn and start communicating.

If they cared about their lives, that was the rational choice.

But all August got in return were hostile hisses in a language he couldn't understand.

"Haa…"

August was never one to kill without reason. He didn't want these people to die by his hands without confirming that they deserved such a cruel fate.

In the end, August was a person who was willing to make tiring decisions like sparing his enemies. That was the nature that made him a hero, a part of him that Damien both respected and found himself unable to understand.

Looking into those eyes, filled with hatred and staring back at him as if he was their worst enemy, August understood that there must have been a story behind their appearance here.

The veracity and validity of that story could be determined later. Whether their lives were deserved or not could be determined later.

First, he at least wanted to hear it.

At the last moment, August recalled his mana and dispersed the force that it contained into the air.

He lowered himself to the ground and transformed into the teenage form he had used until today.

He walked towards them with a smile, somewhat comforted by their expressions that were too fearful for them to attack again.

Conversation…

They didn't look like they wanted to entertain it, but August still wanted to try.

He really was a tiring person, wasn't he?