"S-Spectra… Are you really there?!" Fabian cried, glancing at the gigantic mummy emerge from the glass tube, shattering it apart and exuding a deadly aura of pure miasma and death.
"AAAAHHHH…!" The Pharaoh groaned, his empty eyes lighted with purple-colored phantasmal flames, the chest filled with Demonite crystals glowed with great quantities of mana and miasmic energy, infusing the monster with even more power. "Is the ritual complete…? Have I ascended?"
And it spoke with an old and dry voice, glancing at the beings in front of him fearlessly, only for him to look back at his own hands.
"Dry… skeletal… I've become…!" Muttered the entity. "No, this can't be… NO! I was supposed to- Argh…! AAAGGHHH…!"
His jaws opened wide as an enormous quantity of miasma surged from within, his entire body started to transform, his skin burned completely, only leaving a black colored skeleton behind, whose bones grew countless horns and sharp spikes, and an armor made of colorful Demonite.
"Hahhh… Hahahaha… HAHAHAHA! Death… I am Akhenaton, the HARBINGER OF DEATH!"
[The [Pharaoh of Death: Akhenaton (S Rank)] has evolved through the constant absorption of Miasma into [Harbinger of Death: Akhenaton (S+++ Rank)]!]
[All his Stats have increased by a further +200%. A powerful [Aura of Despair] is exuded from his body, weakening all foes, and decreasing their Stats by -25%.]
It felt as if whatever mind he held before, it had gone completely insane due to the tremendous surplus of miasmic energy. Whatever ancient knowledge he held about his long forgotten civilization, it was not there anymore…
"I'LL KILL THEM!" Laughed the Pharaoh. "I'LL KILL THEM… THE GODS!"
Akhenaton words seemed filled with resentment against the divine, everyone quickly noticed that there was something strange about this.
About their entire civilization being destroyed, about the Pharaoh's desire for his transcendence… And the reason why despite being an Undead, he kept sleeping, waiting for something.
Perhaps something that never came to be at the end, as his kingdom was taken down before he could ever accomplish it.
"The Gods?!" Emeraldine stepped back in surprise. "What is he talking about?"
"Could the ancient civilization of this dungeon have been wiped out by the Gods?" Lucifer wondered. "I have never heard of these people before; they must be more ancient than the Dragons!"
While they speculated as Akhenaton roared monstrously, Fabian was breaking down. Incapable of being able to process what was happening. Spectra was the girl he had a crush on, the one he lived for years, to learn all of the sudden that she had become the materials for the experiment of a wicked bastard made him sick.
"SPECTRAAAA!" Fabian screamed, falling to his knees, and crying as he noticed that one of the many jewels on the giant undead was one of Spectra, a blue colored Demonite heart core. "How could they do this to you?! How could they…?! Argh…! WHY?!"
However, Akhenaton wouldn't simply stand still while a little ant screamed in front of him. On his maddening rage, he swiftly targeted Fabian.
The Pharaoh roared, swinging his huge skeletal arms against Fabian and about to crush him with his sheer strength! His skeleton having been strengthened even more thanks to his sudden evolution made him stronger than Giants, even when he was originally a magician.
As the huge skeletal hand fell over the floor and shattered the ground into pieces, a black blur barely managed to save the boy, it was nobody else than Maria, of course.
Maria carried him on her arms, flying away from the huge Undead. Meanwhile, Lucifer and Jonathan had blocked the powerful blow with their weapons, Lucifer's Scythe and Jonathan's Divine Sword.
"T-This guy's tougher than I thought!" Said Lucifer.
"He must be at least S Rank- No, maybe even higher?!" Jonathan gritted his teeth.
"He evolved into an S+++ Rank, actually, a being right below SS Ranks…" Maria sighed. "Tear with the crown was someone around SS Rank, little Arachne should be too."
Fabian kept weeping as Maria put him on the ground, he didn't even wanted to stand up, he felt like his whole world had come down.
He still had held a slight amount of hope that the girl would remain alive, that the little white-haired girl that had brought some light to his dark world would be here, somewhere.
"Fabian, there is a way." Maria smiled.
"E-Eh?" Fabian's eyes opened in surprise.
For someone like Maria, a powerful Necromancer, as long as there was a soul, there was a way. She had already analyzed the composition of Akhenaton. His Demonite Core was where the souls he absorbed were trapped, fueling his strength.
"As long as we defeat Akhenaton and destroy his heart, the souls will be freed. I'll find those of your friends, and… If that's okay for you, they could become something similar to living beings. Though, it might depend on their decisions." Said Maria. "At the very least, I can tell you that. I am not even sure if Spectra will stay with you or pass away. But I bet that's better than thinking she'll remain forever trapped inside a giant skeleton, right?"
"A-Auntie…" Fabian tried to clean his tears, slowly standing up. "T-Then let me help, even if a little bit!" He said.
"[Bone Armor]! [Bone Weapon]!" Maria conjured her magic as Fabian was covered in a powerful armor made of bones and was given a huge scepter of bones. She also conjured several other buffs on him. "Stay behind us, use your Demonite Spears when an opening shows up, can you do that?"
"Okay!" Fabian nodded; the brown-skinned boy's golden eyes shone brighter than before.
However, as they spoke, Akhenaton grew madder. His body continued exuding an explosive quantity of Miasmic energy, making him go completely insane.
"Youuuu… You TOOK everything… EVERYTHING!!!"
He raised his hand as his Demonite quickly changed shape, growing into a huge black crystal sword, which he furiously swung against Jonathan and Lucifer!