I Level Up Dragons with My Evolution System-Chapter 30: Race against time

Edward looked at him with a puzzled expression.

That combination...

It was deadly!

His mind worked quickly, searching for a way to defend himself. He thought about his surroundings.

There were only bones around him and a bunch of traces of power. Behind him was the cave wall.

On either side...

’On either side?’ His eyes suddenly lit up when he realized something.

On either side was that river; it was deadly to him, surely. So why not use it?

He glanced quickly and noticed that he wasn’t that far from the river. A small detour in his route would take him there.

This was his chance!

As he looked up, the Death Knight had already begun its descent. It was coming at an astonishing speed, carried by gravity and the momentum of its own power.

Edward had only a few seconds to react.

Even so, his body suddenly glowed as one of his caterpillars leveled up. And just as it did, two more followed suit...

He felt the boost in his strength and all his attributes, including that powerful four-point increase in his Constitution.

The previous impact no longer had anything to do with him; the force dispersed, and he slammed his sword into the ground to stop completely and immediately crouched down.

It was instinct that made him do it. It was his body that gave his brain the order to crouch, not the other way around. It was the survival instinct at its finest.

Just as he crouched down, or practically threw himself to the ground, an explosion went off behind him.

The Death Knight had missed his attack by inches. Edward had time to run quickly toward the river before his enemy reacted.

But the Death Knight was too fast. Too cunning. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

It managed to guess the position its enemy would flee to at full speed, so it jumped toward him, spinning in the air, looking for Edward’s back...

But Edward was no longer with his back turned, trying to save himself. On the contrary, he was running backwards while looking at the Death Knight.

Behind him was the burning river that would surely kill him if he fell in. And in front of him was the Death Knight with an attack almost as deadly as the previous one.

But unlike before, this time he was between the sword and the river.

He had no alternative for salvation.

He had made a grave mistake.

The Death Knight considered the fight over, so its attack was deadly, using all the momentum of its strength.

Edward had to jerk his sword upward to defend himself from that attack... Knowing the danger he had gotten himself into.

His body suddenly began to fall to the ground, and a smile formed on his face...

With a "plop," his body fell to the ground. At the same time, the Death Knight passed right where he had been a moment before, with a deadly attack still steady and ready to tear him apart.

But it found nothing to strike.

Edward’s face was just inches from the red river, and he could see the moment the Death Knight fell with a splash that kicked up a lot of that strange red lava. It rose up to reach Edward and fell on part of his face...

The burning sensation he felt was terrifying. It was one of the most excruciating pains he had ever felt in his entire life. It affected his entire left cheek. He quickly got up and grabbed a bottle of water to splash on his face before it was too late.

FUSH!

The steam rising from his cheek increased the pain; it didn’t lessen it in the slightest. Still, it served as temporary comfort.

Despite the pain, he could endure it and grabbed his sword, looking at the water.

’Is it over?’ he thought...

Just then, his fire beast leveled up again.

"Level 8..."

As the battle entered its final seconds, two had reached level 3. The Earth and Water ones. Meanwhile, the Wind one surged ahead, reaching Level 4.

His stats had risen significantly. His strength was now at 24 points. Constitution at 19. Dexterity at 14. Intelligence at 16. Agility at 12 and Elemental Resistance at 18.

These were very good numbers.

And the Death Knight...

Had it died?

Edward moved a little closer to the river to try to see if he could see anything. He hadn’t received the experience, so what was going on?

Because it died by this river, they wouldn’t give him the experience? That would be disastrous, although in a way it would save him a lot of trouble...

But after burning his brain cells (and his face) on that plan, how could he not get experience?

When he was near the river, his hair stood on end. His mind screamed danger and his body reacted almost on its own with a leap backward...

Suddenly, the Death Knight shot out of the river. His sword sought Edward’s head, but all it managed to do was throw a pile of red lava onto the ground. Edward’s figure was no longer where it had been a moment before.

It was when he saw it that Edward understood.

He was fighting something dead that used fire as its power and support. How could he die by drowning or burning?

Clearly, he couldn’t die in the first place!

Even so, his eyes lit up when he saw the knight’s armor. It was no longer as splendid as before; it had cracks all over it and was broken in several places, revealing the rotten skin inside.

’It worked!’

Although not as he had expected, he didn’t care. His enemy was weakened in some way, and he had grown stronger.

It was his moment to attack!

He ran at full speed and managed to grab the Death Knight before he fell to the ground. His sword flashed in the fire of his opponent’s blade and struck him repeatedly in the abdomen.

This time, his attacks did damage.

He was pleased, his body moving with agility as he allowed his sword to dance in his hand, while his movements allowed him to dodge his opponent’s attacks.

Just then, when Edward was relying entirely on his caterpillars to level up so he could take advantage of the small lead he had gained, three caterpillars returned of their own accord to his body.

Wind. Water. Earth.

He shuddered. ’What happened?’ he wondered, almost making the mistake of turning around to see what had happened. Fortunately, he managed to see the danger coming with a lunge and was able to defend himself in time.

Suddenly, the answer came to him without him having to turn around.

The three caterpillars had returned to give his fire caterpillar more experience.

It began to desperately absorb Vestiges of Power, as if its life depended on it... And in fact, it did.

Now, the caterpillar and its master were in a race against time. The minutes kept ticking away, and he had little time left before the pill’s effect wore off.

At the same time, he was getting tired with every step he took, while his opponent was a Death Knight. It doesn’t get tired.

So, while Edward desperately tried to hurt the Death Knight... his caterpillar desperately sought to reach the long-awaited level 10.