The Evolution That Shouldn't Exist
The Broken Realm was silent.
Not the peaceful kind of silence, but the heavy, breath-holding silence that appears right before a disaster. The floating mountains above Leo trembled. The rivers of reversed water froze mid-air. Even the glowing trees stopped shimmering.
All of reality around him paused, waiting.
Leo stood at the center of a cracked plateau, silver particles drifting from his skin like dust from a star. His chest burned with a strange power he had never felt before—wild, unstable, alive.
Max stumbled back, almost tripping over a floating stone. "Leo—BRO—what… what is happening to you?!"
Leo didn't answer.
He couldn't.
His heartbeat felt like thunder inside his veins. His vision split into layers—one showing the world normally, the other showing cracks in space, light trails, and strange runes floating around everything.
He gasped for air.
"What… is this…?"
Even his voice echoed, split into two tones at once—his normal voice and a deeper, distorted one underneath.
Aira stepped forward, her expression frozen between fear and fascination. "Leo… you're evolving."
Leo blinked. "Evolving? What does that—"
Aira's eyes widened. "Don't move! Your energy is unstable. If you force it, you might—"
Before she finished, the ground beneath Leo shattered.
A burst of silver light shot upward like a pillar, cutting through the cracked sky. Floating islands broke apart. Rivers scattered into glowing droplets. The entire Broken Realm reacted at once.
Max shielded his eyes. "LEO!!"
Leo felt himself lifting off the ground.
Not flying.
Being pulled upward.
His muscles tightened. His bones vibrated. His blood rushed like a storm. Something ancient inside him was trying to awaken—something that should not exist, something no normal human body could contain.
Aira whispered under her breath, "…This is impossible. Impossible."
Leo forced himself to speak. "Aira… WHAT is happening to me?!"
Aira raised her hand, drawing a glowing circle in the air. Runes lit up across her fingertips.
"You're breaking through a boundary no human should break. Your soul is trying to evolve past its limit. But I don't know how you activated it…"
Leo's mind flashed to the moment earlier—
The glowing vein on the ground. The whisper he heard. The pulse in his chest.
He swallowed. "I didn't activate anything. Something… reacted to me."
Aira flinched. "That's even worse."
Max shouted, "So can we stop it?!"
Aira shook her head, terrified. "No. If we interrupt him now, he could explode."
Max froze. "…Explode?"
Leo's skin gleamed brighter, the silver dust swirling around him like a storm. His heartbeat roared loudly, echoing through the air like a drum.
BOOM—BOOM—BOOM
His body felt both heavy and weightless. His legs locked into place. His fingers twitched uncontrollably.
Something inside him whispered:
You are not enough. Evolve. Become what you were meant to be.
Leo clenched his teeth. "Shut… up…"
But the voice wasn't from outside.
It came from his soul.
Aira pressed her palms together, creating a protective barrier around Max. "Max, stay behind me. If his evolution erupts, you'll die instantly."
Max glared. "No way I'm leaving him!"
Aira sighed sharply. "Fine, stay. But don't step forward."
Max bit his lip and nodded silently.
Leo's breathing grew heavier. His vision blurred, then sharpened. Every sound became painfully loud. Every color became too bright. Every heartbeat felt like a hammer in his skull.
He felt like he was being torn apart and rebuilt at the same time.
His body cracked with silver light.
His fingertips glowed. His eyes burned. His shadow twisted unnaturally.
Aira whispered, "I've never seen anything evolve like this. Not even the Null Reavers… not even the ancient beings from the upper realm."
Max shouted, "Leo! Fight it!"
"I'm… trying…"
Leo dropped to one knee as energy rippled through him.
He dug his fingers into the ground, cracking the stone.
Another voice echoed in his head—calm, cold, ancient.
You are stepping into a forbidden path.
A path not meant for mortals.
A path not meant for anything that still breathes.
Leo growled, "Then why… why can I hear you…?!"
The voice didn't answer.
Instead—
The world shook.
A massive crack opened in the air above him, spreading like a giant claw mark. Black lightning flashed inside it. A deep roar echoed from beyond the crack—far louder than anything in the Broken Realm.
Aira's face turned pale. "No… no, no, no. Leo's evolution… it's attracting monsters."
Max yelled, "What kind?!"
Aira gripped her glowing spellbook tightly. "The kind that eat worlds."
The ground exploded as a giant creature emerged—a black, twisted beast with multiple limbs made of stone and shadows. Its eyes glowed white, and its mouth split open sideways, dripping with void energy.
Max's jaw dropped. "OH COME ON!! Why does everything want to eat us?!"
Aira stepped in front of Max. "Stay back. This one is beyond your level."
The monster roared again, shaking the whole realm.
But…
It wasn't roaring at Aira.
It was roaring at Leo.
It sensed something inside him—something it feared, something it hated, something it wanted to kill before it fully awakened.
The beast charged.
Aira summoned a protective barrier around Leo.
"Max! Hold him steady!"
Max grabbed Leo's shoulders from behind. "Bro, don't you dare die on me!"
Leo struggled to breathe. His heartbeat reached a terrifying speed, then—
BA-DUM—
Everything stopped.
Silver light exploded around Leo, forming a massive dome of energy. The monster crashed into it and was thrown back violently.
Aira gasped. "He… he's creating a cocoon?!"
Max looked up at the swirling dome. "What does that mean?!"
Aira swallowed hard. "It means he's merging with the energy inside him. He's… evolving into something new."
"Is that good or bad?!"
"I don't know!"
Inside the cocoon of light, Leo felt his body melting and reforming. His mind drifted through memories—Ella's laughter… Max's fist bumps… the old world before everything changed… the strange pull in the forest… the gate… Lyra… the Hunter's words…
Fragmented soul. Marked one. The Unknown One.
Leo growled,—
"Who… am I… really…?"
The voice whispered again.
When you awaken… you will know.
Leo's body shook violently.
His bones cracked.
His heart slowed.
His consciousness blurred.
Then—
A second heartbeat formed inside him.
BOOM.
Aira's eyes widened. "No way… humans only have one life core… but Leo…"
Max asked, "What does that mean?!"
Aira whispered,
"He's forming a second core.
That's not evolution.
That's… forbidden evolution."
The monster recovered and charged again, angrier than before. Black fire shot from its mouth toward the cocoon.
Aira screamed, "MAX! MOVE!"
But before the fire hit—
Leo's cocoon pulsed.
A shockwave blasted in every direction.
Trees shattered.
Rocks melted.
The monster got crushed against a floating mountain.
Aira and Max were thrown backward, rolling across the ground.
Aira coughed. "H-He released power unconsciously… this kid… what IS he…?!"
Max stood up shakily. "Whatever he is… he's still my bro."
The cocoon of silver light cracked.
Aira froze. "He's… coming out."
The dome shattered like glass.
Wind erupted outward, forming a storm of silver particles.
Leo stood in the center, breathing softly, eyes closed.
His hair drifted lightly as if underwater. His shadow moved on its own. His body glowed with a faint, silver aura.
He opened his eyes.
Max whispered, "Leo… your eyes…"
Leo's eyes were now double-layered—
a normal dark iris,
and behind it, a thin ring of silver light.
Aira stepped back. "This… is not human evolution. Not even divine."
Leo looked at his hands.
He felt lighter.
Stronger.
Sharper.
And behind the power…
He felt something else.
A whisper.
A presence.
A cold, distant awareness watching him.
Leo exhaled slowly.
"…What did I become?"
Aira stared at him, speechless.
"There is no word for what you are now. Leo… you evolved into something that shouldn't exist."
Max placed a hand on Leo's shoulder. "At least you're alive."
Leo's eyes narrowed.
"Not just alive."
He clenched his fist.
"I'm ready."
Max smirked. "To fight?"
Leo looked at the sky crack widening above them.
"No."
His voice turned cold.
"To find out who marked my soul."
The ground shook one last time.
The Broken Realm itself seemed to whisper in fear.
Leo had changed.
And the universe felt it.