Endless Evolution: Last Star

As much as Gladius wanted to entertain himself at the Dark Shore to quench the thirst and bitterness caused by his lateness to the main show, he could not move on.

Could he attack Menis?

Sure, but that wasn't the kind of battle he was looking for. Moreover, to fight against someone so dangerous, he needed a better reason than just wanting to kill his boredom.

Step. Step. Step.

Menis plunged into the bloody river, disappearing into the depths of her lands with a lonely splash. Soon, other regenerative monsters would arrive, some born directly into lakes or trees, but to Menis, it was of little interest.

All she needed was for no one to disturb her. Only someone as strong as Gladius was worthy of her attention, who could take over her lands, she wouldn't waste her time on others.

"Well, well... It wasn't what I expected, but at least I got something interesting."

Gladius ran a hand through his hair, glancing around.

"This isn't a bad place, but staying here would be too boring. Hey, do you know where Adam is now?"

Xyrea, who was in the Citadel, rolled her eyes.

'As expected, he didn't show up at Heaven Island, the energy of the First Star didn't allow him to appear there. So... he most likely moved to the very depths of the Cave Grid.'

"Fuck, do I have to run back? After a marathon like this, even my legs might start to hurt!" Gladius complained.

Xyrea was silent for a while, checking out the new information. As Gladius's Operator, she had access to pretty much every channel active in the Citadel.

'Hey, looks like Wilfred was with him.'

"Yeah, I know." Gladius nodded deeply.

Xyrea raised an eyebrow. 'Hmm? How? I just found out about it now.'

"Well, Aiden mentioned it before I went to the Dark Shore. He didn't say it directly, it was a hint, but as you realize, it was enough.

That's why I wanted to make it in time! Fuck! I still can't get over what I missed!"

'Agh, come home. I'll already be in trouble because you killed the two Barons, but this problem can be easily solved. If you stay at the Dark Shore any longer, you'll give me more headaches.'

Gladius took a deep breath.

"Alright. There's nothing more for me to do here. You're not wrong about that."

Then, Gladius's frame shuddered as he disappeared from the Sacrificial Waterfalls lands.

Menis, hiding deep underground, breathed a sigh of relief.

'Gladius... No wonder he didn't recognize me in this form. Tsk, these few people... How dare they call us monsters when they have such power?'

For a moment, Menis's eyes reflected Gladius's silhouette with his terrifying aura.

'He is not a human, he is just a walking calamity!'

...

Moments before Gladius's and Menis's encounter, somewhere in the depths of the Cage Grid, on the lower levels reserved for K4-Phantoms, space began to distort.

An ancient darkness thickened in a distant cavern, revealing two silhouettes for a moment.

Wilfred and Adam exchanged a glance, and then a wall of darkness swept before Adam's eyes, separating them. The shockwave threw Wilfred aside, but he landed smoothly on the ground.

Somewhere in the distance, massive monsters peered out from behind the ice crystals.

The darkness of the First Star attracted them, but Wilfred's aura was frightening, so much so that the monsters soon decided to run away. Only from time to time did new ones appear, curious to know what was going on before they disappeared.

Before Adam could say anything, a dark sphere engulfed his frame as his consciousness was forcibly transported into his inner space.

Wilfred, in turn, took a seat on a frosty rock and pulled a cigarette from his half-empty pack.

"Boy, you better do it before I run out of cigarettes or I may not hold out and quit." Wilfred opened the lighter, lighting a cigarette.

One of the strongest men in the Citadel could defeat almost any monster, but he couldn't fight his addiction.

However, maybe Wilfred wasn't trying. No matter what those cigarettes were made of, even in a thousand years, they couldn't hurt his body in the slightest.

At the same time, Adam opened his eyes.

It was always dark in his inner space, but now it felt different. He saw nothing but his Evolution Tree and Third Key.

The last piece for the key took its rightful place. All the darkness was completely absorbed into the Third Key, giving it an unusual appearance.

Streams of darkness ran along the edges of the great key, trembling slightly in bursts of light, creating a strong contrast between the two opposing elements.

[It's time, Adam...]

The Evolution Tree's voice rang out, penetrating directly into his mind.

Adam gulped as a shiver rang out from The Evolution Tree's base. The Lock was ready for the next stage of evolution as well. The last keyhole for the last key remained. Then, the chains would fall off, and the Evolution Tree could continue its growth until it reached the limit of the First Circle.

For the time being, Adam's eyes traveled to his Initial Gene. The flames were no longer in chaotic motion, the Lone Blaze finished her work, but she dared not interfere with the important process.

Once Adam was a K4-Phantom and finished his evolution, she would be able to show her results.

Step. Step. Step.

With slow steps, Adam made his way toward the Third Key. Usually, the last keys of other K3-Phantoms looked different. There was no dense, thick darkness among them.

But this was neither a drawback nor an advantage. After all, the First Star and the Last Star, their energy was part of a world with millions of people and billions of monsters. It simply couldn't be something foreign.

Crackle.

Adam gripped the key's hilt tightly as the powerful energy lurking within traveled toward his body.

His eyes flashed brightly, one turning white and the other black for a moment. Dark and white streams of energy roamed his body, gathering at his hands.

"This... Darkness and light, is this happening because of the Twilight Crystal energy, or is it all mine?" Adam muttered, directing his gaze towards his Evolution Tree.

The powerful frame of the huge tree shook as its roots, branches, and Adam's Nexus hovered nearby. It was the only part of his power that hadn't yet fully merged with the Evolution Tree. Well, the Power Gene fell into that category, too. It was on the tree, but not directly connected.

"Just like last time, right?" Adam asked.

[Hah... Adam, you know what you need to do much better than I do. After all, everything here belongs to you. This is your space... your world.]

Adam nodded weakly before drawing his hand back.

With his next breath, he threw the Third Key straight at the Lock.

In a dark flash, the Third Key swept through the empty space, leaving behind a black-and-white trail of two trembling lines.

Crackle.

Like a sword, the Third Key stabbed into the last keyhole.

Adam was there to force the key to turn.

Click.

With a quick clink, the key opened the third keyhole, removing the last obstacle in front of the Lock.

Despite the importance of this event, Adam's heart beat slower than usual. He knew what was going to happen next, and he felt relieved.

However, a slight smile of anticipation appeared on his face.

"I don't know what awaits me at the K4-Level, but along with new challenges, new rewards will come along with it, won't they?"

Before Adam's eyes, the Third Key shattered into hundreds of fragments, he saw his reflection in each of them.

Then, it was the turn of the Lock. It always only shook before, but now there was nothing else supporting it.

Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.

The chains enclosing the Evolution Tree's base shook vigorously, the links collapsing one after another. From each link erupted a powerful stream of dark energy that was originally in Adam, but manifested only now.

Adam gulped.

He could feel how dense the energy was, and it was all channeled into his Evolution Tree. It absorbed only the first streams, but it was already getting a bit bigger as several black tips appeared among the many branches at the crown.

The chains continued to collapse one by one until there was nothing left but the Lock.

"Come on. You can no longer resist. You must give up the power that belongs to me."

The Lock cracked.

A destructive stream of energy rushed outward, consuming Adam and the darkness around him. Most of the energy went to the Evolution Tree enveloping its great body so that it could grow and change.

The other part of the energy was split into two flows, one headed to Adam's rings, his Nexus hovering near the tree, and the other to his Power Gene. It was time to merge the two.

The last and densest portion of the energy of the Lock was dedicated to Adam, forming a ring beneath his feet, but... another one appeared beside him.

It was not only he who was worthy of this power, but his partner as well.

Adam smiled as if he knew what would happen next.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

At the same time, next to Silvana, who lost contact with Adam after he departed from the Dark Shore, shuddered.

Clots of darkness rose in front of her, just like from the black flash.

"T-This..." she stumped as the darkness engulfed her.

The next time Silvana opened her eyes, she found herself in front of the black quivering sphere and Wilfred, who was smoking at the side.