SSS Awakening: All My Clones Have Divine Bloodlines!-Chapter 51: ’Fck you Bruce’

Shadow, who had once resembled a slightly altered version of Evan himself, hooded cloak, leather adventurer’s armor, was now something else entirely.

Taller. Broader. Encased head to toe in dark armor, a menacing helm hiding every trace of a face, two points of violet light glowing from within like embers that refused to die.

From its description, this was a creature of death, different from before. If the first seemed more like a summoner with combat abilities, this one was more of a battle-hardened general, far more powerful than before, considering how its abilities had evolved.

[Stealth] and [Death Sense] had both reached D-rank. Stronger, sharper, though the true extent of the improvement would only reveal itself in the field, when he could measure the gap against what they used to be.

[Life Drain] was closer to a racial trait, its ceiling tied directly to the clone’s own strength. Little to analyze beyond the obvious, more power meant more vitality extracted, and faster regeneration for the user in return.

Evan did the same through [Death Mark], though his method came with more friction, for now.

Call of Cats, on the other hand, had received an interesting upgrade, one that Evan couldn’t wait to see in action.

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[Call of the Dead]

Rank: D

Description: This ability allows the user to sacrifice creatures of a certain strength to summon Creatures of Death of equal power to serve their will.

As the ability’s rank increases, the user gains the capacity to Elevate certain lower-ranked subordinates into higher-ranked ones. This threshold grows alongside the ability’s rank.

[Summons]:

> E-Rank: 0/3

> F-Rank: 3/10

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’I knew it, this ability is really broken,’ he thought, unable to contain his excitement.

Where Shadow had once led only a handful of summons, he now had something closer to a proper squad. The rank distribution made it obvious, three E-rank commanders, the rest standard F-rank soldiers. Shadow wasn’t just a fighter anymore. He was a general.

It might seem like only a numerical increase, but the boost in strength that this ability alone provided was enormous.

Shadow had become a one-man army. And just thinking about how much ESS he’d be pulling in from all those summons combined was enough to give Evan goosebumps.

[Host, not to ruin your mood, but there is a limit to how much ESS you can receive from your clone’s subordinates.]

[Current limit: 10,000 ESS per day.]

Evan: "..."

It was as if the system had grabbed an entire lake of cold water and poured it directly over his head. Every image of ESS flowing in freely and endlessly evaporated on contact. The only thing left in its place was a very specific desire to locate whatever passed for the system’s neck and apply pressure to it.

’Fck you, Bruce.’

[I love you too Host]

’Since when did this guy get so chatty. Where’s the mute button?’

Evan finally gave up and tried not to think about what his friendly system had just said, refocusing his attention on his clone, who had been watching the entire scene of him seemingly writhing in rage like a cockroach.

Limit or not, it didn’t change the fact that he now had a much larger force under him, something that would be very useful against stronger beasts. If he didn’t have enough strength to fight an enemy, then he would overwhelm them with numbers, and now he certainly didn’t lack those.

He shifted focus to the last entry in the clone’s skill list, the new one, unlocked with the advancement.

[Skills]: [Stealth], [Death Sense], [Life Drain], [Call of the Dead], [Death Domain] new!

Just like all the other abilities, the name alone gave a sense of power and mystery, something Evan couldn’t wait to discover. He pressed on the ability, opening its status screen. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

---

[Death Domain]

Rank: D

Description: Summons a domain under the user’s command within a limited area, inspiring nearby allies with renewed courage while enhancing their strength and endurance. Enemies within the domain feel a constant oppressive pressure weighing on their body and spirit. While the domain is active, the user’s energy regenerates at a greatly accelerated rate.

[Effects]:

> Deathborn Strength: +20%

> Deathborn Defense: +10%

> Range: 10 meters

> Duration: 60 seconds

---

’Holy cow.’

Evan, who had just recovered from the long series of emotions he had experienced in a short span of time, found himself once again stunned by this new ability.

An area-of-effect ability that both strengthened allies and suppressed enemies, while also rapidly regenerating his energy reserves.

He understood the logic. Shadow was a general now. Generals kept morale up. Generals turned the tide. But an ability that was essentially the physical manifestation of that concept, wasn’t it a bit much?

Imagine boosting a small army of death creatures that were already dangerous by nature, making them even more lethal, creatures that didn’t truly die, since even after death his clone could recreate them by killing enemies in battle.

The time limit made it somewhat balanced, but Evan knew that in battles between powerful beings, even a few seconds could make all the difference.

Evan looked up at the clone, had to, now. Shadow had the height on him.

"My friend, I fear what you will become in the future."

"Strong, certainly, but whether that is a good thing or a bad thing, I don’t know. For now, at least, it isn’t a bad thing."

Shadow watched him. Said nothing.

He never did.

Though there was something different about his eyes now, more present, somehow. More aware. something that had already happened when it evolved to Rank E before, but now even more noticeable.

He tried to make it speak, but without success. Still, he could say that it had become more of a sentient being instead of a robot blindly following orders without putting anything of its own into it.

Evan finally finished examining his clone’s evolution, and just as he was about to leave to take a look at his own stats, a message from the system echoed in his mind as a screen appeared before him.

[Ding! You have reached D-Rank.]

[Congratulations, you have met the requirements to unlock your second clone]

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