Evolution Island: Kill to Survive

The last Guardian

The loot box contained over a dozen unique scrolls. All of them were in perfect condition. Zach picked them up one by one and stored them in his inventory. Summoning scrolls were incredibly rare drops, even more valuable than the restoration and alteration scrolls. Zach knew they were invaluable to a support build like him.

After Zach had emptied the chest, something else caught his eye. It was a rough hand-drawn map of Solaris. Aaron picked up the piece of paper and compared it to his digital map. The map on his Z-band only displayed the details of the explored places while the undiscovered locations were all covered in fog. However, this paper map provided a general outline of the entire island.

“Scan item: map.”

A blue laser light scanned the document, creating a digital copy. The Z-band synchronised its digital map with the paper map and soon the fog cleared away. Every part of Solaris was now visible on the Z-band. The island’s topography had changed quite a bit due to the new update. It used to be divided into 4 zones, separated by two great forests teeming with wildlife. With the new update, a mountain had been added towards the north. Everything else seemed almost the same. Aaron was still studying the map, when a global announcement lit up the sky.

[*Last Zone Guardian has appeared!*]

[*The players who defeat the last Zone Guardian will unlock access to a secure cabin on Solaris. The cabin can be used as a save point and comes with a cooking spit, armour stands, weapon racks and beds.*]

[*Final survival bets are now live!*]

The timing of this announcement couldn’t have been more perfect. Aaron and Zach had just eliminated the 3rd Zone Guardian, making them eligible to travel to the next island. However, the second island of Midgard would only open up after the last Zone Guardian was defeated. Every player on Solaris was sure to compete for the final kill.

As soon as the announcement was over, Aaron opened the objective tab. There was only a single main quest on display— travel to Midgard. In the details below, the names of all 3 defeated Zone Guardians were on display. These 3 names were all highlighted in green, but the last Zone Guardian’s name was displayed as a set of question marks.

“Just what I was expecting,” Aaron grumbled.

“What’s wrong?” Zach asked.

Without taking his eyes off the map, Aaron replied, “The last Zone Guardian’s name isn’t mentioned.”

“We already know it’s either the Cyclops or the Salamanca.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that. If it was either of those, there would have been no reason to keep its name a secret. This new update has already replaced one of the bosses with a Mutated Bloodworm. Judging by that, I’m sure Gilbert has another surprise in store for us.”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me!”

“If I was trying to spice things up for a finale, I’d definitely swap the old Zone Guardians. Players already know how to counter both the Cyclops and the Salamanca. Gilbert is expecting the final boss to surprise not just the players, but his viewers as well. The bets will only get interesting if the stakes are super high.”

“But you already saw the final Zone Guardian marker on Knight’s folly. That’s where the Cyclops lives!”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.” Aaron held up his Z-band and zoomed in on the map. “Look!”

As Zach’s eyes roamed over the digital display, his expression quickly changed from certainty to confusion. The map marker for the final Zone Guardian was no longer on Knight’s Folly. It was now pinned to the open grassland beyond the great mountains.

“How can Gilbert still modify map markers after I activated the anti-cheat?”

Aaron had already figured it out. He looked at Zach and smiled. “Gilbert didn’t change the marker. There was no cyclops in that cave to begin with. The Mutated Bloodworm was inside it all along. By crossing the eastern shoreline, we entered its territory and triggered its aggro. That’s when it decided to leave its cave and come after us. And because it was tunnelling underground, we didn’t see it coming before it was too late.”

Both realised now they couldn’t count on their previous playthrough. The game had changed so much after the last update; there was a new surprise around every corner. Only the core survival RPG mechanics remained the same. Solaris was still familiar territory, but the other 3 islands were going to be even more challenging.

Aaron had no doubt in his mind that the last Zone Guardian was going to be much tougher than the one they had just defeated. It could be a pre-historic predator or a mutant or a mythical creature far stronger than a Cyclops. Whatever it was, they could be sure it would not go down easily.

It was back to the drawing board for them. So far, they had no way to ascertain whether the 4 other challengers on the island were playing as a team or separated into two duos like them. Since Gilbert had chosen these players to test his game, it was safe to assume that they all had previous gaming experience.

The only certainty was that all the challengers were going to rush towards the final Zone Guardian to get their hands on that elusive secure cabin on the island. While Aaron and Zach were discussing a plan to avoid PvP for now, another notification flashed on their Z-bands.

[*Final votes are live!*]

[Team Aaron: Chances of survival: 20%]

[Team Merlin Alliance: Chances of survival: 80%]

[Team Draconis: Chances of survival: 50%]

[*Good luck challengers!*]

As soon as the announcement was over, the quest tab opened up automatically. The main objective was being auto-tracked now. It took them directly to a full view of the map of Solaris. A dotted green line traced a direct path to the last Zone Guardian beyond the mountains. It was no longer marked as a question mark on the map. In bold red letters, the creature’s name and level were displayed under a gray jaw symbol.

Zach’s mouth fell open and his eyes widened as he read the name of the final boss.

“It’s a level 30 T-Rex!”