The Ultimate Evolution

“If it weren’t for this mark, human, you would be drifting in space by now,” the emotionless voice of the flame echoed in Sheyan’s ears.

“That group of bastards are abominable, but they should still have decent judgment; they should be able to distinguish spies from true allies. Who gave you this mark of an ally?”

Against this terrifying existence who, albeit devoid of a physical body, actually possessed a godly artifact like the Keystone, Sheyan could only force himself to remain alert and respond respectfully.

“Respectful…lord of the Protoss. I am Seaman, a human Brigadier General, military number 1018. I came to the Lost Temple planet in search of a comrade of mine. This is a private operation and has nothing to do with any human authority. The person who gave me the mark is named Uraki. And because I have the privilege of fighting alongside two powerful Protoss in the previous battle with the Zerg, the Zealot Sokada and the Dragoon Tochego, I have also achieved a certain amount of merit.”

The blue flame suddenly stopped pulsating. The hologram behind it rapidly changed, and the information about the people Sheyan mentioned appeared on it.

After that, the blue flame seemed like it could not be bothered to talk to Sheyan any longer. It told the person that brought Sheyan here, the one that had a cold voice, “Shadow, you’re in charge of this human. Verify whether his words are true, then…give him the sentence he deserves.”

Sheyan’s heart sank when he heard the word “sentence”. Meanwhile, the guy called Shadow had already started reading the information on the screen aloud.

“Wow, I did not expect your life to be so colourful, human. The things you’ve experienced are no less amazing than that of many of our Protoss heroes… Uraki, that little priest, has grown to the point where he can be sent to deal with us, huh? But does he really think he’s worthy? There are no records on the Zealot Sokada and the Dragoon Tochego, which means that they’re insignificant to our race. It’s still not enough to offset the blasphemy of you stepping foot on the Holy Land.”

Sheyan narrowed his eyes and coldly said, “So what? Although I’m only a lowly human in your eyes, I’ll have you know that you can kill me, but you can’t defeat me! You can destroy me, but you can’t insult me!”

Shadow laughed. “Do you wish to resist? In front of milord and the greatest miracle in the universe, the Keystone?”

“If the Keystone is that great, why were you still exiled to this Lost Temple planet?” Sheyan clenched his fists and said flatly.

This remark clearly touched a sore spot! Two rows of warriors, dressed exactly like Shadow, stepped neatly out of the empty air around them. All of them, including Shadow, hissed furiously!

“I was only going to cut off your legs, but now it looks like I have to cut off your tongue too,” uttered Shadow coldly.

“You might have saved me, but it doesn’t give you the right to insult the pride of a warrior and the honour of his race!” retorted Sheyan boldly.

Shadow took a step forward. The patterns on his “long staff” suddenly glowed, and the light at the tip of the staff extended bit by bit until it finally turned into a horrifying light blade. The staff had become a scythe!

(Dark Templars use powerful warp blades, based on modified psi blade technology. Further iterations on the warp blade’s design yielded scythe-like blades, which helped diversify the combat style of the Dark Templar. These scythes are called shadow scythes: https://starcraft.fandom.com/wiki/Shadow_scythe)

Shadow was more than two metres tall, but he looked tiny next to his huge scythe!

“No human can take on a powerful Dark Templar one-on-one without using machinery! Give up your futile resistance now, and you might yet live!”

The liquid metal life-form started flowing on Sheyan’s hands and finally became the ‘+10 Planetary-Grade High-Energy Mechanical Power Gloves’. Sheyan dropped his head and slowly spread open his hands, like he was trying to completely enclose himself in a shell without being disturbed by the outside world.

Shadow’s figure turned into a blur and reached Sheyan in the blink of an eye, leaving a long trail of afterimages in his wake. He swung his giant scythe. The blade of the scythe cut through the air effortlessly, producing a faint sizzle, as if the strong plasma flow was cutting the air molecules it encountered into two!

Sheyan abruptly raised his hand and used the ‘Planetary-Grade High-Energy Mechanical Power Glove’ to block the shadow scythe! The current ‘Planetary-Grade High-Energy Mechanical Power Gloves’ were not the same as before because G-spot had been upgraded to a high-tier legendary weapon, so the grade of the gloves it transformed into had also increased significantly.

Therefore, even though the shadow scythe’s slash produced countless sparks on Sheyan’s glove, it was unable to cut into it by even an inch. Sheyan was still hurt by the force penetrating through the glove, but he also managed to seize the temporary halt in the opponent’s movement to take half a step forward and swing his elbow.

Shadow bent his elbow and blocked Sheyan’s attack with his hand, but to his surprise, he found that the human in front of him was astonishingly strong. The impact from the collision forced him to lose his balance and stumble back.

Sheyan took the opportunity to stride forward and executed an ‘Uppercut’, launching Shadow into the air. Then, he sent sent three consecutive punches at Shadow, slamming him into the ground. Shadow skidded for more than 7 meters on the smooth floor before he came to a halt.

The furious Shadow abruptly climbed back up off the ground and swung his scythe diagonally downwards. In this instant, the whole hall trembled like it was shivering in cold. Strange noises akin to shattered pottery filled the air. An invisible shockwave centered around Shadow rapidly extended outwards.

Before Sheyan could react, half his body was already paralysed. Then, a gush of blood spurted out of his shoulder. He had been hurt by Shadow’s ranged attack!

Seeing Shadow raise his scythe again, Sheyan immediately rushed towards him. The scythe swung down again in a vertical arc, and another trail of blood splashed out of Sheyan’s body, but the distance between them had disappeared. Sheyan gripped Shadow’s shoulders and activated ‘Tactical Throw’, flinging him into the giant metal pillar next to them.

This was a heavy blow to Shadow. Dark Templars were known for their stealthy movement, and defence had always been their weakness. The giant metal pillar he crashed into could be regarded as the backbone supporting the entire base, so its hardness goes without saying!

Shadow was already dizzy from the strong collision, but to make matters worse, Sheyan was already waiting for him to bounce off the pillar. A knee strike and a high whip kick sent Shadow flying.

The rest of the Dark Templars have incredulous looks on their faces. Their impression of humans was of a race that had mastered the use of powerful machinery, but a human’s personal strength was totally insignificant in their eyes. This was the first time they had ever seen a human having the upper hand in a fair one on one fight against a Dark Templar. All of them knew how strong Shadow was, but from the vivid dents in Shadow’s armour, they could also tell that the strength of the opponent was far beyond the strength of a conventional human. It could be said that he was almost an Ultralisk in human form!

Shadow stood up slowly and stared at Sheyan with a serious gaze. The fight in his eyes had not diminished at all, but had grown stronger instead! His palm slowly and painstakingly brushed the edge of his scythe like a grindstone, producing blue sparks and making a harsh sound! This was the way the Dark Templars would sharpen their scythes with their own life force to increase the power of the scythes several-fold, a strengthening method called the “Blood Scythe”!

When Sheyan saw this, his face became grave. He took a deep breath and said eerily, “Since you wish to take my life, don’t blame me for taking extreme measures as well.”

As Sheyan said that, he lifted his right hand. A hair-raising blood-red weapon started to take shape in it!!

Evil Sword Apophis’ mysterious, sinister, and incomparably powerful glow illuminated the sacred temple of the Protoss. Even the powerful artifact floating in the air emitted a faint buzz, apparently noticing the anomaly happening in this space!

“How could a mere human possess such a powerful weapon?” Shadow finally had a change in countenance.

“That’s because my soul has never been tainted! Do you still wish to fight me? My weapon will leave wounds on you that can never be healed!!” said Sheyan solemnly.

Shadow could not help laughing. “Have you ever seen a Dark Templar who flinches in battle?”

Just as both sides were prepared to clash again, another glorious blue flame slowly descended from the air, and the ceiling of the hall gradually closed.

“Halt! Outsider, I sense a familiar feeling within you. Can you tell me why?” asked the gloomy blue flame as it flickered several times, its voice echoing in the hall.

Sheyan pondered over it carefully and realised that he indeed had something on him that was related to the Protoss. Yes, the communication device he got from Ol’ Kido which he could use to contact Ol’ Kido to report back on his mission.

Sheyan had treated this thing as a waste since his mission had failed, so he had left it in a corner in his storage space. But at this moment, he had a flash of inspiration after recalling Ol’ Kido’s age and appearance that was like the last flickering ember of a candle in the wind. Sheyan instantly took the device out and said, “Do you mean this, my lord? This is a keepsake given to me by a Protoss elder.”