Lord Evolution: Starting With SS-rank Skills

A thunderous explosion, accompanied by a sudden minor earthquake, blasted across Winterseed.

The villagers cried out in fear; a few quickly dropped to the ground while others remained standing, frozen, as they stared intently in the direction of the explosion where a magnificent mushroom of flames blazed fiercely into the sky.

It brilliantly illuminated the entire village for several seconds with its sharp, fiery glow.

Rowan and Blaze were sprinting rapidly in that direction when the explosion occurred. They immediately halted their steps at the moment it happened to observe.

Rowan observed more closely and realized that the explosion had occurred very near the location of his house.

The very first name and face that flashed through his mind was Riela.

Such an explosion was unquestionably unnatural; it was either caused by a magic spell or by some sort of explosive artifact.

Without wasting any precious time, Rowan dashed toward the explosion while his two pets rushed right after him.

Rowan sprinted through the empty village until he arrived in front of his house; from there, he could see two nearby houses burning as a result of the earlier explosion, yet his attention remained fixed on the wide-open door of his home.

He rushed inside in search of Riela, only to find that there was no one present.

"They've taken her!" he growled, gritting his teeth. His voice trembled with an urgent blend of anger and despair, each syllable echoing the weight of his loss and the burning need for retribution and undeniable sorrow.

"I arrived too late," he muttered, blaming himself with an expression of regret firmly etched on his face.

['I can perceive her scent; she is nearby.']

Blaze informed Rowan after carefully sniffing the area.

"You can perceive her?" Rowan inquired immediately, "Can you tell if she's still alive?"

['She is very much alive, but there is a strong, dark magical presence positioned near her.'] Blaze responded.

Just as Rowan was discussing urgently with Blaze the whereabouts of his beloved wife, Black Drifter, who was diligently scanning the village from above, spotted two darkened men dragging two helpless individuals—one being a young lady with strikingly beautiful yet messily disheveled white hair, while the other was a middle-aged man.

The two dark mages floated in the air, surrounded by swirling mana, as they seized their victims.

In front of them stood another dark-robed figure, his hands clasped behind his back as he drifted smoothly with an unruffled, calm posture.

Black Drifter could easily discern how powerful the dark-robed figures were; they were several times stronger than him, even more potent than the Red-dooms of the dark forest that had nearly taken his life, and they were now flying in his direction.

It was not difficult for Black Drifter to recognize that these individuals were the problem, so he quickly informed Rowan and Blaze.

Upon hearing this, Rowan and Blaze promptly steeled themselves for the dark-robed visitors — Rowan swiftly drew two swords and activated every skill that could aid him in the impending battle, including his bloodlust title.

Even the REVENGE skill was activated for the very first time.

Rowan was swiftly enveloped by an overwhelming presence, his eyes turning cold and fixed in the direction that Black Drifter had pointed.

Blaze, on the other hand, cloaked himself in flames that enhanced all his attributes.

A few seconds later. Stay updated via My Virtual Library Empire

Xandros suddenly appeared in Rowan's view, a menacing smirk firmly set on his face.

"Who is this guy?" Rowan wondered aloud.

He had only known Xandros for his fabricated face and identity as Vishirk. As for his true identity, he had never seen it before.

After Xandros, the other dark mages arrived.

Rowan saw one of them holding Riela, who appeared extremely worn out and starved; this single scene utterly shattered his heart and fueled his thirst to kill those responsible for her terrible condition.

His expression quickly crumbled when his eyes fell upon the other dark mage holding Dragun captive.

It confused him—wasn't Dragun meant to be with the bad guys? he wondered.

His initial thought had unequivocally been that Dragun was fully involved in everything, as he was the one who had brought Vishirk—who is later revealed to be a powerful dark mage intent on ruthlessly killing himself and his soldiers with the Forest Eater and then unleashing countless terrifying monster hordes.

He had not expected to see Dragun held captive by the very same people with whom he had worked.

The entire situation swiftly transformed into something he had not anticipated.

He could only watch as they drew ever closer in his direction.

Xandros landed slowly in front of him, the same menacing smirk firmly plastered on his face. The others landed a few seconds later, each accompanied by their captives.

Rowan's eyes shifted toward his beloved wives.

"R-rowan..." Riela spoke in a low, weak voice; it was clear from her tone that she had not eaten.

When she saw him, her eyes shone with a brilliant light that had long been extinguished since Xandros and his men had arrived to terrorize the village.

Rowan gave her a reassuring smile, silently promising that he would soon rescue her before turning his attention to the fellow in front of him.

Rowan quickly observed the stats of the fellow before him, and he was quite surprised to see two names displayed, names that were exactly the same as the ones he had seen in the dark forest.

"This is Vishirk's true identity," he noted.

Xandros, on the other hand, began strolling slowly toward Rowan while still maintaining the same unchanging facial expression as before.

"Rowan, Rowan... You are finally back from your little hunting trip. I have been waiting for you for quite some time now—why were you late?"

Xandros exuded a distinctly threatening aura as he spoke, rendering the atmosphere extremely uncomfortable for the weaker individuals.

"You... Who are you, and what do you want with my village?" Rowan asked.

Although he already knew who he was and whom he had been pretending to be, it was better to react naturally and not give the impression that he truly knew.

"Oh... I forgot that this is your first time seeing my real face; you already knew me as Vishirk..."

"You are Vishirk? How?" Rowan reacted as if he had just made a startling discovery, causing Xandros to laugh in amused delight.

While speaking, Xandros continued taking slow, intimidating steps toward Rowan. Naturally, he did not respond to Rowan's questions.

"Why are you doing all this, Vishirk? Did we ever treat you badly while you were with us? Did we wrong you in any way?" Rowan followed up with more questions, acting exactly as Xandros would expect him to.

And his act was both fascinating and convincingly real, enough to provoke amused chuckles from Xandros.

"Someone like me would not need any reason to wipe out a territory of weak and useless people. You were fortunate that I was made to act cool and to connect with your people; if not, you would not have a place to call your village or anyone to call your people right now." Xandros laughed.

Only people like Dragun, who had worked with him for so many years, truly knew who he actually was and how dark his heart truly was.

Although Rowan had met the true Xandros for the first time, he could already tell from the look on his face that his words were genuine. He unmistakably possessed the cold and almost lifeless eyes of someone capable of killing innocent people while feeling nothing.

Even Blaze and Black Drifter could easily tell, through their natural instincts, what kind of person he was.

"This guy is no bluff; how do I truly take care of someone like this? What should I do? I cannot allow him to hurt any of my villagers, and I definitely cannot let him cause further harm to Riela," Rowan pondered.

Xandros was gradually closing in, so Rowan took several steps back.

Rowan was no coward when it came to a fight; he had even faced monsters far stronger than himself without a single moment's hesitation.

However, he was smart enough to realize that, in this situation, acting like a coward was the only option. Even at his peak—utilizing all his skills, items, and even his pet—he still would not be able to defeat Xandros.

Indeed, even at his peak strength, he would not be able to take care of Xandros' minions, who are even weaker than Xandros himself.

It was a lose-lose situation at that point.

And even if he could buy time by using talk-no-jutsu, there was no one coming to help nor any trump card waiting to be activated.