Evolving My Undead Legion In A Game-Like World

The last time Michael had entered a battle arena for the Origin Ranking, a portal had always opened first, a swirling gate he'd have to physically step through. Now, apparently, the Origin Will had decided that step was unnecessary.

Michael found himself standing in a place filled with nothing but darkness.

[Awaiting Opponent]

Please wait while the challenged party selects their desired arena.

Michael crossed his arms.

Right. There was this part.

Unlike a regular duel where both sides fought in a neutral setting, the ranking challenge system worked differently. The one being challenged got to choose the battlefield itself.

Like the Origin Will said, except for a few exceptions, everything in the world was balanced.

Michael waited patiently, curious what his opponent might choose.

The darkness held nothing but silence for a while.

Then, finally, a panel appeared.

[Battlefield Created Successfully]

Name: Sunreach Meadow

Description: A wide, open field bathed in constant sunlight beneath a cloudless sky. Warmth and Yang Energy permeate every corner of the battlefield.

Living creatures continuously recover vitality and warmth, while beings aligned with negative or death-based energies suffer a steady erosion of strength within the environment.

"…Sunlight?"

Of all the terrains available in a system, his opponent had picked an environment "guaranteed" to work against him specifically.

Michael scratched the side of his head, a smile spreading across his face.

"This person might know a bit about me."

Though he was probably one of the most famous people in the universe lately, that didn't mean every Awakener would be obsessed with him. Perhaps some still only knew his name and hadn't bothered investigating any further, for whatever reason.

However, this opponent was likely part of the other side, someone who'd actually looked into him.

Unless it was pure coincidence, choosing this exact battlefield had to be deliberate, a way to counter him before the fight had even started.

The spatial distortion around him thickened, and Michael disappeared from the space of darkness.

The first thing that came to Michael was warmth. Then came the light.

He opened his eyes and, for several seconds, simply stood there without moving.

This place, Sunreach Meadow, was beautiful. Far more beautiful than its simple name suggested.

An endless sea of pale-golden grass stretched beneath Michael's feet, each blade reaching slightly above his ankles and swaying in perfect waves whenever the wind passed through them.

From where he stood, the meadow continued in every direction until land and sky eventually became indistinguishable along the horizon.

There were no trees, mountains, or buildings. Not even a distant silhouette to break the landscape. Only an endless golden field.

Above it hung a vast blue sky so clear it almost looked unreal. There wasn't a single cloud anywhere, and at its center burned an enormous golden sun.

Its light didn't feel harsh. Instead, it covered the entire world in a warm brilliance, turning the grass into something resembling an ocean made from strands of molten gold.

Every few moments, the wind would sweep across the meadow. One section of grass would bend first, followed by another and another, creating enormous ripples that raced across the plains for kilometres before finally disappearing somewhere beyond sight.

Tiny particles of golden light floated among the grass. They rose slowly from the earth, drifted through the air like fireflies, then dissolved beneath the sunlight.

Michael extended his hand. One landed briefly against his palm.

It was warm.

"Is this Pure Yang Energy?" he wondered.

There was an incredible amount of it. The entire battlefield seemed saturated with vitality. If an ordinary living creature remained here long enough, even serious injuries would probably begin recovering faster than normal.

Unfortunately, there was something missing.

Life.

Michael's perception spread outward.

There were no insects hidden beneath the grass. No birds in the sky. No beasts roaming the plains.

The entire beautiful world was completely empty, making the scenery strangely unsettling. It looked like the perfect summer meadow, yet there wasn't a single living thing anywhere.

Not even his opponent.

Michael raised an eyebrow.

"Where are you?"

His voice travelled across the open field before gradually fading.

No answer came.

Michael glanced toward the horizon and smiled faintly.

"I wouldn't mind owning something like this."

The Mausoleum already contained mountains, rivers, forests, and enormous plains. But this place possessed an atmosphere of its own. If not for the fact that someone was somewhere inside this seemingly endless world waiting to fight him, Michael could have easily mistaken it for a place created purely for rest.

Another gust of wind moved through the grass. Michael's long black hair shifted behind him.

He closed his eyes briefly, feeling the Yang Energy pressing against his body. However, aside from a faint discomfort settling somewhere beneath his skin, Michael found himself mostly fine.

The other party had been right in choosing this environment. Dense light energy on this scale would have been devastating for most necromancers. It was a smart, targeted choice.

But Michael wasn't an ordinary necromancer.

For one thing, he wasn't like the others whose energy carried the residue of their profession, the countless hours spent digging graves, the grim rituals many necromancers dabbled in that gradually corroded their own bodies and left their constitution weaker than others of the same level.

Even mages were physically better compared to most necromancers.

Michael's energy had never been built like the others. What flowed through him was simply darkness, pure and undiluted, untouched by the practices that usually came bundled with the class.

But that darkness was only true of his energy. Deep down, beneath the class, beneath the title, he was still a True Human, one with affinity toward every element, not just death or darkness.

Becoming Death's Heir had massively suppressed most of those affinities, pushing the dark element so far forward that it dominated everything else almost entirely. But suppressed wasn't the same as gone.

The others still existed inside him, quietly, even if only at the level of a minor genius by comparison.

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