I Level Up Dragons with My Evolution System-Chapter 46: The truth

On the battlefield, most formed groups to try to win, learning from Robert and Elizabeth. Others were not lucky enough to join one, so they had to go it alone.

After the first three passed the test, two others managed to pass it, also in a group.

And then, an hour passed.

The principal suddenly reacted and began to descend.

The Mother Stone emitted an annoying squeak, which struck the students’ ears, causing them to wrinkle their faces and groan in pain. The puppets fell to the ground in succession, as if their strings had been cut.

Finally, the director stumbled onto the floor.

His cold gaze swept across the coliseum. His eyes slowly scanned each of the students, as if he wanted to understand their deepest thoughts.

In the end, his attention settled on the only five who had white energy on their bodies.

"All of you have passed the test, and the five of you achieved the highest honor in it," he said, without a hint of praise in his voice. "Now the final test begins. Remember my previous words... and keep them in mind. This is our world."

This time, he did not go up. He stood there in the middle of the coliseum and watched intently.

At first, Edward didn’t understand his words. He understood that he was referring to the battle, but was that all?

Rumble!

A small tremor shook the coliseum, putting Edward on high alert.

Suddenly, a terrifying cold ran through them, making most of them shiver.

’This cold brings back memories.’ He remembered the Cursed Land he had recently challenged...

His heart raced and his pulse became erratic.

Suddenly, his hair also stood on end when he felt something grab his ankle.

He turned abruptly downward, fixing his gaze on the man who had fallen to the ground earlier. The man’s hand was clutching his ankle tightly, while a strange dark energy emerged from his wounds.

The man’s head soon moved at an impossible angle and looked at him...

"Ahhhh!" A loud scream from a woman, followed by several men, echoed through the coliseum.

Several of them stumbled and fell to the ground, others were paralyzed with fear... some trembled and fainted.

They... were dead!

All those who had been injured by the puppets before were dead!

"W-w-what is this?" A man near Edward trembled as he writhed down. "No... No, get away!" He roared as he tried to get away.

"N-nobody told me..."

Edward frowned. ’They’re zombies.’ He realized. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

They had just turned into zombies.

Suddenly, his mind had a flash of understanding. The coldness he had felt before was cursed energy. He recognized that energy emerging from them very well because he had recently almost died because of it—it was cursed energy!

So...

"They became cursed beasts..." he muttered quietly.

The Death Knight’s words suddenly made sense in his mind, but in a different way. There was no Death Knight here to turn them into zombies.

There were just a bunch of humans who had just fought against simple puppets!

No one told them the consequences!

’Wait.’ He realized something and looked up. His gaze fell on the side of the principal, behind him.

The Mother Stone.

It created those puppets.

Suddenly, he felt that a great mystery was before his eyes, and a sudden headache struck him.

"Agh." He grabbed his head and staggered backward. Because of the zombie holding him, he almost fell, but he managed to stay on his feet, stomping on the zombie’s elbow. This allowed him to break free from its tight grip.

’I see.’ Edward gripped his sword and looked at the zombie getting up. ’Then you are my enemy.’

His heart trembled at that thought. The man he had just called "enemy" was none other than the same man who had been behind him in line.

He didn’t have to think too hard about his identity—the same guy who traveled with him from the dorms, Roy Brown!

Edward swayed to the side to dodge an attack from the zombie... It was slow. Very slow.

Killing it would be easy.

But his heart tightened at the thought of his loved ones...

He was a human just like him, a moment ago. He mistakenly thought that the puppet had avoided killing him. But now, Roy was a cursed beast.

What if it happened to Aurora? Would he even have the strength to hold his sword up to her?

’What if it happens to me?’ His eyes flashed and he quickly jumped to the side when he saw the zombie’s claws about to stab him.

’Claws?’ He looked at the zombie’s hands... Its claws were like those of a lion cub and were wrapped in cursed energy.

The claws of the puppet!

His heart suddenly turned cold, and he stared intently at the claws heading in his direction.

’You want to turn me into what you are...’ His teeth clenched.

’Why am I hesitating?’

’It’s a beast.’

’It’s a cursed beast!’ he repeated to himself mentally.

Just like the undead of the Cursed Land!

His sword seemed to glow in the light of the distant stars, the ones that were said to represent them. His heart suddenly grew colder, and a horizontal slash cut off the zombie’s head.

"A zombie always dies from a headshot..." He muttered quietly and watched the zombie’s body fall backward, blood staining his clothes.

He ignored the pain and the smell, turning his face to look at the coliseum... It was a disaster.

A pile of corpses lay scattered on the ground. Those who hesitated too long were dead.

Some tried to fight, but the fear of killing someone they knew caused them to make mistakes, and now they had become zombies...

There weren’t too many of them.

Out of 100 students, approximately 10 fell in the previous test and 30 in this test.

But it was a remarkable number.

Meanwhile, there was a man wreaking havoc on all the zombies that crossed his path. He was fierce.

Unlike Edward, he didn’t hesitate even when a familiar face stared back at him with a dead expression.

Robert smashed the heads of more than five zombies during the "fight"... He was relentless. Fierce. Ruthless.

Edward sighed. He was far from being like that. He had to admit it: Robert was better than him in that regard.

He decided to "help" the cause as well, so that this ordeal would finally end. He didn’t want to see any more potential "companions" turned into zombies...