Chapter 146 146: The New Generation of High Humans - 1

Damian still hadn't returned, and it had been more than fifteen minutes since he gave his racial essence to Shiru.

She also hadn't emerged from the state of evolution, but it seemed like she was about to.

There had been no movement until a few seconds ago.

Now, the white, cloudy cocoon of evolution had begun to shake slightly.

"Hmm, it seems Shiru is about to awaken as a High Human," Sir Holloway muttered, noticing the changes happening in the cocoon.

Sir Holloway's expression turned strange as he sensed a couple of presences approaching the territory of the Circle of Ouroboros, not far away.

They didn't seem threatening or dangerous, despite being very powerful.

In fact, their presence felt oddly familiar to him.

Looking around, Elfie was also staring in the same direction, clearly sensing those presences as well.

"Who are they? They're strong," she said.

"Don't worry. I don't think they're unfriendly. In fact, I might even know them," Sir Holloway said, eyes widening. "And I think I know why they're here."

"I'm going to go out on a limb and say they're here because of Damian," Elfie sighed.

"Hehe, you should invite them in. Since the leader of the faction isn't here, as the third in command, you should welcome the guests into the territory," Sir Holloway said.

"Third in command? Didn't you say Damian is interested in me? Then shouldn't I be second in command?" Elfie asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Yes, he is interested in you. But that doesn't mean he would just give you power and make you second in command. You still have to earn it. Damian hasn't established a stable hierarchy in the faction since there aren't enough members to justify more than one official leader."

"But I believe the faction is about to scale up fast. A need to manage his faction will arise. If you prove yourself, you might actually become second in command," Sir Holloway explained with a grin.

"And everything I just said might become meaningless if you charm him with your womanly allure, though I think the probability of that happening is close to zero."

"He saved my brother. I owe him a lot more than just staying in his faction. I don't care what kind of benefits he gives me. I'm happy with whatever I get, as long as it matches my ability. Of course, I'll be giving my all. Being in his faction is the greatest thing that's ever happened to me," Elfie said with a smirk.

"That's true. There has never officially been an Awakened in the history of the Tower with as much potential as Damian possesses. Traveling with him will inevitably influence your path," Sir Holloway wanted to continue and share the wild theories forming in his mind about what Damian might become.

But suddenly, he felt too uncomfortable to say it aloud to Elfie because he'd just realized something.

It wasn't a secret that Damian really liked Elfie.

There was a possibility she might even become his woman.

And if that happened, Elfie could end up as the future wife of the greatest being the universe had ever seen.

Just thinking about it made Sir Holloway feel a little more than intimidated by her.

He glanced at the kid beside Elfie, the sixteen-and-a-half-year-old elven boy, her brother.

He would be the future brother-in-law of the greatest being the universe had ever seen.

"Why are you suddenly quiet?" Elfie asked, noticing the strange expression on his face.

"N-Nothing. Just thinking about something. Why don't you go greet the guests?" Sir Holloway said quickly.

"Are you sure they're guests? Because I'm really not in the mood to fight," Elfie sighed.

"Yes, I'm sure," Sir Holloway nodded.


After a minute or so, Elfie appeared in the throne hall along with two figures, wearing a strange expression on her face.

She looked that way because the two figures she brought were both High Humans, an extinct race, even though they didn't feel the least bit powerful compared to Damian when he was a High Human before evolving into a Human Progenitor.

Their presence wasn't even close to being as overwhelming as stronger beings she had encountered.

Unknowingly, Elfie, Maria, her seven sisters, and even Sir Holloway had started comparing everyone they met to Damian, his power, his presence.

It had become their unconscious standard.

Elfie wasn't particularly shocked to see High Humans; she was only slightly surprised to find them in the First Tower Realm, especially knowing they were supposed to be extinct.

It was fascinating to encounter two such beings in person.

Thinking back, she remembered stories from her world, Yelvera, about the Elven race.

There used to be a large population of High Elves, but now, there were very few.

In fact, she couldn't even recall the last time she heard of a High Elf being born.

"Woah... if the Elven race continues like this, won't we end up in the same state as humans? Wait, should I even be worried about this? This won't affect me, right?"

No matter how much she thought about it, Elfie couldn't shake the feeling that extinction wouldn't affect her or her brother directly.

Such a threat would take thousands of years to fully manifest, and even if she lived that long, she would be under the protection of Damian's faction.

So logically, nothing should pose a threat to her or her brother.

Yet, her thoughts kept circling back to the fact that Damian liked her.

His face rose to the surface of her mind, and she couldn't help but blush.

"Sister, what's wrong with you?" Arlen, her little brother, asked, noticing her strange behavior and reddened face.

"It's… it's nothing," Elfie replied quickly, turning her face away in embarrassment.

Arlen narrowed his eyes.

He might've been clueless about a lot of things, but even he could tell that his sister was thinking about that man.

Arlen still didn't fully understand what had happened, what his sister or the others in Damian's faction were discussing.

No one had explained to him what went on while he was imprisoned by the vampires, or what happened after he woke up in the middle of a battlefield.

After being captured by vampires, they used him as a walking, living blood bank.

A few days later, he completely lost consciousness, though the vampires continued to savor his blood.

The next thing he remembered was waking up on a battlefield, surrounded by his sister, a plebeian vampire, a human, and a being he couldn't even begin to describe.

It didn't take him long to realize that this being was the one who saved him.

After learning that man's name, Arlen searched the system and found trending footage from the First Tower Realm.

It showed a war between two factions, though calling it a "war" might've been generous.

It was more of a one-sided slaughter.

Hundreds of demons tortured and tore through hundreds of vampires.

And leading those demons, summoned straight from Biblical Hell, was that very man.

That was the first time Arlen had ever felt so restless watching someone fight.

His power, his abilities, his aura, his presence on the battlefield, the way he moved, everything about him screamed monster.

A true monster.

Every name Arlen could think of to describe him had the word monster in it, monster of a demon, monster of a being, monster of a human.

Arlen was so impressed that it didn't take more than a few seconds of watching that war to become a die-hard fan of Damian.

And when he found out that Damian liked his sister, Arlen was even happier.

He truly hoped they'd get together.

He wanted Damian to be his brother-in-law and he swore to do everything in his power to make it happen.

While Arlen was imagining various scenarios involving his future brother-in-law, maybe even one where Damian made him king of a world or something, Sir Holloway, Elfie, and the two High Humans were deep in conversation.

"I'm not really that surprised that you two met Damian," Sir Holloway said, looking at the High Human couple: Noah Ravenfang and his wife, Cara Ravenfang.

They were the same High Humans from whom Damian had received [The True Essence of Forgotten High Humans], which he used to evolve into a true, pure-blooded High Human.

The couple ignored Sir Holloway's comment and continued to look toward the Cocoon of Evolution a few meters ahead.

Sir Holloway had met them once before, during his research into the High Humans.

He considered himself lucky to have encountered the only two High Humans he had ever seen in his life.

They had shared a great deal of information with him back then.

Now, Noah and Cara wore expressions of utter shock as they sensed the presence of a High Human, and not just any High Human, but a pure-blooded one, inside the Cocoon of Evolution.

"How is this possible? Another High Human appeared?" Noah asked, disbelief on his face.

"Well, you know Damian, right?" Sir Holloway said.

"He became the Human Progenitor, and he turned a human into a High Human. That's how this became possible... so yeah... it finally happened."