The Greatest Sinner

The sword in Evan's hands was sharp enough to cut through steel. And given his incredible physical strength, Evan would be able to kill monsters of the zero rank in just one blow. This weapon cost him a year of his life, and it was worth the price.

Evan looked at the snake sword, and the next moment his "Warp" spun. He cast the "Ice Veil," and the sword began to be covered in a layer of ice slowly. Each time the "Awareness"  of the spell increased, it became stronger. In this case, the amplification consisted of sharp, icy teeth like a saw on the blunt side of the sword. This sword could now not only cut but also tear the flesh of enemies apart.

Evan stepped up to the vines and severed them with a single swing, opening a passage into the cave. Immediately he was surrounded by a host of monsters. One of them attacked him at lightning speed. Evan no longer had that strange energy, but he was full of strength and mana. And now, he was the desired target for the monsters.

The monster opened its mouth wide, but Evan didn't even flinch. Now such monsters posed no danger to him.

<Only an hour ago, I would alarm if an evolved monster of the zero rank attacked me, but now to me, it is no stronger than an insect.>

Evan thought and swung his sword. The next moment the monster's body was slashed lengthwise. Ice spikes appeared where the cut was made, and the monster's carcass fell to the ground. Just one swing and the dangerous monster that could easily tear apart most newbie magicians was killed.

Evan looked around and saw an exhausted Reykar.

< He's got more potent, too, but it looks like he couldn't handle them alone. There are really formidable opponents among these monsters, but why did they come here...?

Evan was distracted, and at that moment, two monsters decided to attack him. They thought this was an excellent opportunity since Evan didn't even look at them.

The monsters' sharp claws sliced through the air and collapsed on Evan, but a moment later, the world before their eyes turned upside down. Evan swung his sword, and the monsters' heads fell to the ground. He wasn't even distracted from his thoughts.

<Hmm, Draven said that the monsters were supposed to be frightened by the powerful energy emanating from me during the breakthrough. Maybe he deceived me? No, it's unlikely, it's probably just the energy I'm emitting. This mystery gets more complicated every time I encounter it.>

The monsters of the zero rank were stunned by Evan's power. Even though there were so many of them, they moved away from the young man. They were afraid to attack Evan, he was dangerous, and they knew they could not win.

As for the monsters of the first rank, they were not so cowardly. One of them was about four meters tall. It picked up a giant boulder and threw it toward Evan. The monster was powerful but relatively slow.

Evan turned toward the attacking monster, and mana began to gather around his arm. In addition to the "Ice Veil," "Magic Missile" had improved as well. Evan could cast the "One-Eyed Raven's Beam," but he wanted to see the "Magic Missile" enhancement in practice.

First, mana transformed into a white Magic Circle, namely "Foundation," and then into the white beam itself. The difference between "Magic Missile" in the second stage and the first one was that now another sphere was being created within it. This meant that the spell was now two beams. The second one was smaller and weaker, but it was still a very formidable weapon.

When the boulder should have almost reached Evan, the beam instantly reached it. A stun blast completely destroyed the giant boulder, but that wasn't the end of the attack.

A second, weaker beam flew further and hit the large monster that attacked Evan. It didn't have time to react, and the "Magic Missile" exploded its head. The vast carcass fell to the ground, and the weak monsters bounced away from Evan in terror.

<Hmm, it wasn't evolved, but it was pretty strong. If I had fought with this monster yesterday, I probably would have lost and probably even died...>.

At that moment, Evan once again realized how important strength was. An ordinary man with no talent for magic could die simply because he met a monster, and any magician could easily kill ordinary people if he wanted to. Of course, it would be an absolute atrocity, but there were definitely such cases.

<Strength is important, but I've gained the body of a talentless young man, with no strength, no ability to use mana, just nothing... If I hadn't been a demonologist in a past life, I would have to eke out a miserable existence in this one.>

Evan thought, slowly making his way toward his next opponent. It was a monster with a huge left paw. Along its paw were three red spheres resembling some crystal.

Evan activated the "Eye of Truth" and looked at the monster's "Pillar of Soul."

<The evolved monster of the first rank, I wonder how strong it is>. Evan thought and quickly cast the "One-Eyed Raven's Beam."

The purple beam flew toward the monster. However, it was not going to retreat, the monster raised its strange paw, and three red spheres glowed. Red energy came out of them, which quickly transformed into a triangular shield.

Boom.

There was a deafening explosion. To Evan's surprise, the monster was able to block all damage from the beam entirely. There wasn't even a crack in the red energy shield.

Evan stared intently at his opponent, then lunged in his direction. He decided it would be best to attack at close range. His sword could easily cut through that shield, he was sure of it.

But, the monster wasn't going to stand still and wait for Evan to kill it. The spheres on its paw glowed again, and the shield turned to red energy again. It turned into a large blade that the monster raised high above its head and rained down on Evan.

At that moment, the young man thought: <What an interesting ability it has... too bad I can't take it for myself, that monster can create any weapon it wants. It's hard to think of a more convenient ability>.

Bam.

The massive sword practically came down on Evan, but he had no intention of dodging. Evan swung his sword, and the monster's weapon was shattered. However, some part of the blade quickly turned into small blades that flew into Evan's back.

Evan hadn't expected that the monster could convert its energy so quickly. The monster's reaction really amazed him. But, the blades posed no serious danger to him. Evan dodged each blade with perfect accuracy.

Before, he wouldn't have been able to do something like that and would definitely have gotten a few cuts, but now he could clearly see all the movements.

"You surprised me. Well, on the other hand, I wouldn't expect anything less from an evolved monster of the first rank." Evan muttered and instantly landed several blows on the monster.