Mummy Evolution

Its body was a nightmare of muscle and scale—thirty meters long, thicker than a man was tall, its dusty green-brown hide blending perfectly with the storm-tossed dunes. Its eyes, cold and reptilian, glinted with predatory malice as it turned toward them.

It had small, human-hand-like wings running across its entire body.

The Rhino's armored form bulged grotesquely in its throat for a moment before a ripple of muscle crushed it down, digesting it in seconds. The sheer power of its stomach acids dissolved graphene-like plating as if it were paper.

—

[Desert Anaconda/Time Fragment]

Approximate Strength: 35 Metric Tons (base coil strength: 15 tons)

Durability: Equal to a body made of diamond

Speed: 200 km/h (124 mph) in bursts

Resilience: Can endure extreme punishment and keep fighting

Regeneration: Heals moderate wounds in seconds

—

"I didn't sense it!" Gold shouted, panic all over his face.

Sett's stomach dropped. This was the beast Gold had barely escaped from before. And now it was here, fresh from a meal, its hunger far from sated.

"Gold, move!" Sett shouted, but it was too late.

The Anaconda lunged, its tail whipping out of the sand like a guillotine. Gold twisted, raising his sword, but the sheer speed and mass overwhelmed him. The tail slammed into his left arm with a deafening CRACK. His golden armor shattered instantly, and his hand—still gripping the sword—exploded into a spray of blood and bone. The force hurled him twenty meters back, crashing into a dune with a muffled scream.

"Fuck!" Gold clutched the stump, blood pouring between his fingers. His face twisted in agony, but he staggered to his feet, his right hand trembling as he summoned a new Sword of Gold.

The Anaconda didn't hesitate. Its head snapped toward Sett, jaws unhinging to reveal a cavernous gullet. It struck—a blur of scales and death—aiming to swallow him whole.

Sett dove to the side, his speed pushing him to 205 km/h. Sand erupted where he'd stood, the Anaconda's fangs burying into the dune. He rolled, springing up behind it, and charged. His fist cocked back, aiming for its eye.

BOOM!

His punch connected, a sonic boom rippling through the air. The Anaconda flinched, its diamond-hard scales absorbing most of the blow, but the attack still made its head ring. It hissed, a sound like steam escaping a broken pipe, and retaliated with a tail strike.

Sett saw it coming but couldn't dodge fully. The tail clipped his shoulder, sending him spinning through the air. Pain flared as hairline fractures raced across his diamond-dense frame. He hit the ground hard, skidding ten meters before righting himself.

A deep heartbeat echoed from Sett's body, healing all his injuries in a second.

Death Begets Life!

He had used up all the ghosts in his Tomb.

But otherwise, he would have died at the next attack.

Gold staggered up, clutching his stump. "I can't—" His voice broke as the Anaconda coiled toward him. "Metallic Gaze!" The beast froze for two seconds, its body stiffening. Sett was too far to make use of the pause.

Gold summoned a new sword and slashed its side, drawing blood, but the wound was shallow. The freeze ended, and the Anaconda's coils snapped around his legs, crushing them with 35 tons of force.

"Hold on!" Sett shouted, running to the creature's back.

Death's Call!

The better he knew someone or something, the more this ability weakened them. And it wa easy to read and understand a mere beast. Sett saw through the creature's hunger, greed, and coldness at once.

That weakened the creature's hide by a considerable level, enough for Sett's ambushing claw to sink into its back.

It hissed, thrashing Sett away like trash.

Gold's eyes widened in panic. "I'm out!" he rasped, summoning Metallic Burst, his final ability. He transformed into scattering golden powder and moved away in the storm wind. "Sorry, brother—I can't die here!"

Sett's jaw tightened. "Bastard." Betrayed, but not surprised. He was alone now.

The Anaconda thrashed, hurling Sett off. He hit the sand hard, more fractures cracking his arms. He triggered Death Begets Life again, pulling from the Horny Hyena's corpse in his Inner Tomb. The death energy surged, healing his arms, but the Anaconda lunged again, jaws wide. Sett rolled, barely dodging, and activated Murder Soul.

Sett's jaw tightened. "Bastard." Betrayed, but not surprised.

The Anaconda thrashed, hurling towards Sett again. But at the last moment, he moved away, escaping barely with his life. The dune that the snake crashed into exploded. Right before it could move away, Sett used Death's Call again, weakening its defenses.

His punch crushed the creature's left eye.

The beast shrieked, coils flailing, and caught him in a crushing grip.

Sett's ribs cracked, skull cracked, even legs cracked—blood trickling from his mouth.

The Anaconda's strength was overwhelming—35 tons of coil power grinding his diamond body from inside out. Sett's vision blurred, but a smile curled up his face. Life Share.

He had activated it a minute ago, linking their fates.

For the next minute, every wound he had taken would rebound onto the Anaconda.

The snake tightened its grip—CRUNCH—shattering Sett's left arm. Instantly, its own body shuddered, scales cracking as the mirrored wound appeared. It hissed, confused, and slammed him into the sand.

Soon, all of Sett's wounds vanished, and deep wounds appeared all over the snake's body.

Sett stumbled, utterly drained.

He fell on the desert with many wounds still crisscrossing his body.

His strength was spent, his body trembling.

That was when a shadow slowly loomed behind him.

Gold.

The traitor limped forward, his sword reformed, eyes cold. "You're tough, Sett, but you're done." He'd waited, watching from the storm, conserving his strength. Now, with Sett broken, he struck—driving the Sword of Gold straight for Sett's heart.

The blade pierced his chest—SCHLICK—and Gold grinned, expecting victory. But his smile faltered. The sword met no resistance, passing clean through.

Gold stared, dumbfounded, as Sett's chest revealed a gaping, unnatural hole where his chest should've been—an empty void, like a mummy's hollow core.

"You… you are a mummy?!"

Didn't that mean he grew stronger by killing?

"Right answer, now you can die."

Death's Call.

Sett punched the man in the face, making it crack, dripping with blood.

He had killed the snake, so of course he had grown stronger.

The tiredness had been a bait, and for such a simple thing, the foolish man had fallen.

[Limitless Evolution Art: 1/6 Unlocked (Neutral Energy 600/1000)]

The screen blinked.

[Limitless Evolution Art: 1/6 Unlocked (Neutral Energy 1000/1000)]

For a moment, Sett truly became dizzy.