The Glorious Evolution Chapter 2: Ash’Kral

Right as Levi swung open the fridge door, his ears perked up at the booming sound of footsteps thundering toward the apartment's entrance.

Identifying who those steps belonged to, Levi let out a sigh and shut the fridge door.

Knock Knock!

"Big bro! I'm coming in!"

The rough, hearty voice hadn't even faded from the room when the front door flew open, revealing a massive guy standing 6'6" tall, built like a human bulldozer!

His frame wasn't the absolute largest around, but at just sixteen years old, he remained an absolute marvel!

One year Levi's junior, he resembled a grizzled middle-aged divorcee sporting a tight white tank top, snug black shorts, and cheap plastic flip-flops.

Without the spark of childlike purity in his eyes, those three neat chin hairs, and his shiny black ponytail, no one would doubt his youthful age.

In one hand dangled a bulging grocery sack stuffed with protein-packed foods, while the other gripped a dark gym duffel.

The cramped apartment, barely larger than a studio flat, let Arthur spot Levi by the fridge instantly upon entering.

His eyes sparkled with excitement right away.

"Big bro, whipping up breakfast for us?" Arthur beamed, stressing the 'us' hard.

"I'm fasting today."

Levi stepped away from the kitchen area, his hunger vanishing in a flash. He headed to the wardrobe and slipped into his workout shorts.

"Tsk, no need to be like that. I ate on the way here; I only want something light."

Arthur appeared annoyed while shutting the door and heading to the kitchen, setting the groceries down on the counter.

"Light, yeah right." Levi's brows furrowed beneath his dense, curly locks.

He was aware his younger brother's freakish genetics allowed such massive size and muscle without daywalker status, but it demanded ten times the normal daily calorie intake.

Put simply, preparing breakfast for Levi would mean slaving over the stove for an hour straight to meet his bro's morning protein quota.

"Ahh, I even grabbed some SR pills for you, and you won't make breakfast for your lil' bro... So tragic."

Arthur let out an exaggerated sigh to tug at heartstrings as he fished out a little orange vial, then lobbed it toward Levi.

"Right side, catch!"

Levi's ear flicked, and his hand shot out like lightning, snagging the bottle with flawless accuracy.

Still, both Levi and Arthur barely batted an eye at this astonishing feat.

"I reviewed our account balance yesterday evening; we've got exactly enough to scrape by till month's end and the welfare payout." Levi questioned sharply, drumming his finger on the vial. "How'd you swing a full bottle?"

"Coached a quirky rich chick at the gym," Arthur answered offhandedly as he unpacked the grocery bag.

Inside lay ground beef, chicken breasts, salmon fillets, bananas, yogurt pots, eggs, rice packs, and veggies... Just one treat: sugar-free cookies.

"Weird? In what way?" Levi arched a brow, recalling how his brother usually stole the show as the oddball anywhere. Calling someone else weird piqued his interest.

"She's bald."

"..." Levi paused in silence briefly.

Feeling the judgment, Arthur laughed and explained, "Not ill or nothing; she chose baldness and insists everyone call her Monk Jojo."

"Monk Jojo... What's a monk?" Levi cocked his head, puzzled.

"Beats me." Arthur shrugged, smashing eight eggs into a huge mug. "I keep my distance; she turns heads at the gym with her bizarre routines."

"I get it," Levi gave a subtle smile while laying a training mat smack in the living room's middle. "Good pay? Who gives a damn?"

"Tell me about it—she forked over a thousand lumen credits for one hour!" Arthur chuckled slyly. "Sucker; I'd have taken a hundred for bonus training time."

"One thousand? Solid deal."

Levi felt pleased with the sum, knowing a thousand lumen credits could let them splurge through month's end.

He didn't devour food like his sibling, yet stuck to calisthenics training and a solid protein-rich diet too.

These days, real food cost a fortune, thanks mostly to civilization's collapse and nightcrawlers' endless craving for sunlight from anything.

Plants, beasts, people—it made no difference... Whatever soaked up sun rays became nightcrawler prey.

Nightcrawlers nourished themselves and evolved using this kind of light, yet paradoxically, sunlight scorched their skin right on first touch, preventing direct absorption.

Humans lacked the ability to store light and convert it to energy like plants through photosynthesis, but nightcrawlers kept targeting them as primary prey anyway.

The reason was straightforward... Nightcrawlers could possess human bodies via a Sleepwalker contract, granting the power to bask in sunlight openly without Shadow dimension shielding!

Luckily, nightcrawlers couldn't coerce hosts into signing any forced contract to become Sleepwalkers.

Instead, they bided their time until humans slept, then slipped into dreams to tempt and manipulate them into agreeing to the contract.

"Here, I only need a couple of pills to buy me some extra hours for training."

Levi settled onto the training mat, spilled five pills into his hand, and tossed the bottle toward his brother, pinpointing his spot by sound alone.

Arthur snatched the bottle mid-air and watched his brother silently, absorbing the view of him dropping down for push-ups with perfect technique.

Clad in just shorts, Levi revealed his perfectly sculpted physique, the kind that would spark envy in any other guy.

If Arthur embodied the bulky bodybuilder type, Levi represented the pinnacle of aesthetic athleticism.

Yet Arthur's attention wasn't on his big brother's impressive build, but fixed on the three claw marks scarring his back.

Gazing at those scars on his brother stirred a heavy ache in Arthur's chest.

Mid-rep, Levi halted without raising his head and spoke evenly, "Your heart rate's dropped... Didn't I tell you to quit feeling guilty about something that wasn't your fault?"

"I know, but it doesn't stop me from feeling shitty about it." Arthur gave a wry smile.

On that dreadful night, Arthur had stayed behind with his uncle in the Holy Heliodor Region's capital city.

Levi had gone with their parents to Tamara's settlement for his father's business deal, one poised to boost the Nightwere company significantly.

Though Arthur was glad he hadn't joined them, the knowledge that he wasn't there for his brother or parents haunted him daily.

Even realizing he was only six back then, helpless to change anything but swell the victim count, failed to ease his nagging guilt.

"Well, go feel shitty elsewhere—you're messing up my workout," Levi waved him off with one hand and resumed push-ups using just that arm.

"Harsh as ever, big bro."

Arthur grabbed their breakfast, set it on the table beside Levi, then sat and let out a sigh.

"Why so stubborn? I said just live quietly—no need to push yourself for family revenge." His eyes narrowed sharply, "I'll take care of it alone and get your sight back, no matter the price."

Levi locked up midway through a one-arm push-up.

Slowly, he lifted his head, hair draping over his burn scars, and stated flatly, "I lost my peace ten years back."

With those words, over six new nightcrawlers swarmed his vision, filling the house and eyeing him like a tasty dish.

They'd been chattering and harassing him since Arthur showed up, but he'd long perfected ignoring their noise.

"..."

Arthur fell quiet briefly, aware no one could truly grasp his brother's daily torment.

It was a wonder he hadn't cracked under such existence already.

Arthur knew anyone could spot nightcrawlers—just close your eyes over two hours in total darkness.

That's why humanity invented Sleep Replacement Pills/Drops: pop one, slip into brief hibernation under two hours, wake refreshed like after six-plus hours of sleep.

Still, these pills came from nightcrawler blood of a rare type plus other dimensional resources.

Harvesting them was Daywalkers' domain only.

Put simply, true daily sleep was for Daywalkers and the wealthy—those pills outvalued gold in this turbulent world.

"How many?" Arthur demanded icily.

"Six."

"Gotchu."

Without hesitation, Arthur shut his eyes and began devouring his breakfast, eager to link his spirit to the Shadow dimension and reunite with his brother among the nightcrawlers swarming their home.

"No need, I am planning to head out after an hour." Levi halted him with a subtle smile, fully aware that his brother always supported him.

"You sure? I just want to give them a piece of my mind." Arthur cracked his knuckles.

"They aren't worth anyone's time. If they had anything better to do, they wouldn't be here." Levi responded calmly, staring straight at the six hovering nightcrawlers encircling him.

'Talking crap about us to your brother again?' One nightcrawler grinned wickedly toward Levi.

Nightcrawlers couldn't see or hear humans either, just as humans remained blind to nightcrawlers without forming a spiritual connection to the Shadow dimension.

To manifest physically in the world, they needed either Stygian Gates or a contract forged with humans.

Before Levi could answer, another nightcrawler—like a spoiled eggplant crawling with thousands of worms gnawing its flesh—burst in with a threatening growl, "Boy, don't mistake our inaction for weakness."

"Am I wrong? You being here instead of pledging your allegiance to any Nightcrawlers' Nest makes you nothing but jobless bums." Levi retorted without flinching.

"Hahaha, he got you there." Ash'Kral's mocking laughter boomed from afar.

Enraged, the nightcrawlers whipped their gazes toward Ash'Kral, spotting him sprawled on his side, raking his buttcheeks with his foreboding claws, utterly ignoring them.

The eggplant nightcrawler glided toward Ash'Kral, halting just two meters distant. With a venomous snarl, he spat, "Aren't you laughing a bit too much?"

Ash'Kral's laughter tapered off gradually until hush blanketed the spiritual bridge of darkness. The seasoned nightcrawlers, familiar with lounging near Levi and Ash'Kral, ignored schooling the newbie on the power structure here.

Noticing the dead silence after his words and the stares treating him like a corpse on legs, the eggplant nightcrawler felt a chill of unease.

"Bastard, look at me when I talk to you."

He pressed harder regardless, convinced no damage could reach him in the spiritual bridge of darkness. His actual form lingered elsewhere in the Shadow dimension, with only his spirit present here, identical to Levi's state.

Earth and the Shadow dimension acted as twin physical realms, bridged by the spiritual plane of darkness linking them.

'How impolite of me.'

Ash'Kral leisurely swiveled his head until his gigantic horrifying crimson eye locked onto the eggplant nightcrawler.

The instant the eggplant nightcrawler met Ash'Kral's evil eye, his voice hissed right by his ear.

"Can you handle it though?"

"Aaaa, AAAA, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

Suddenly, the eggplant nightcrawler toppled backward, unleashing his shrillest, most deafening scream.

Even the thousands of worms erupted from his body and scurried away as if fleeing a plague-ridden host!

'PLEAAASE!! PLEAAASE!! MAKE IT STOP!!!'

'Hmmm? I don't understand?' Ash'Kral cocked his head in mock bewilderment, gaze unwavering. 'I thought you wanted me to look at you?'

'MERCY!! MEEERCY!!!'

The eggplant nightcrawler wailed for several more seconds before breaking under the excruciating torment...

Levi and the remaining nightcrawlers watched wordlessly as the eggplant nightcrawler vanished into void.

As Ash'Kral's radiant crimson eye swept over them, none risked meeting it.

Levi too kept his gaze downcast, pressing on with his push-ups as though detached from the chaos.

"That's what I thought."

With that display, Ash'Kral settled back into his idle lounging...