Endless Evolution: Last Star

Chapter 326: Midnight Crystal (Part 51)

Fallen Crypt was a Yellow Threat area, and Fume Throne, despite its creepy presence was a Light Yellow Threat area.

And... this place was now ruled by a Purple Threat level creature, Plague Reaper. He was stronger than anyone trapped inside Fume Cathedral, even Fog Hunter, a rather strong Light Yellow monster couldnʼt do anything to him.

Thus, inexperienced Phantoms or those who were in this situation for the first time might have a logical question.

Why was Plague Reaper a Purple Threat Level monster?

Plague Reaper was stronger than Gray Stalkers, Weeping Harahas, Fog Hunter, and a bunch of other Light Yellow Threat monsters. In that case, shouldnʼt Plague Reaper have rated as a Light Yellow Monster more, only ranking higher?

Well, the answer was quite simple.

When killing Plague Reaper, which happened, albeit extremely rarely, Phantom would gain Purple Threat Level genes rather than Light Yellow ones. But, this was only a technical part of the reason and was not as significant as the other one.

The main reason was that monsters like Phantoms had to evolve to become stronger.

For example, Adam was capable of killing monsters that were meant to be K2-Phantoms. Moreover, for anyone who knew what Adam could do, it was clear that he was able to defeat the weakest and newest of the K2-Phantoms.

Sure, experience and instincts honed in mortal combat would play a big role in his victory, but his abilities and energy reserves had impressive power and bulk.

But despite this, Adam was not a K2-Phantom, though technically his power could qualify him for the position.

In this case, it was understandable, as Adam had yet to create the Key, obtain the Midnight Crystal, or go through evolution. So... Plague Reaper was in a similar situation as all monsters of the Top-10 in Purple Threat Level.

Whether it was Essence Thunder Demon, Essence Scarlet Pyromancer, or someone like Snow Follower, all of them could defeat weak monsters of the Light Yellow.

Thus, all of this could lead to the following question.

What will happen when a monster like Plague Reaper evolves? Well, it will clearly be a threat that no K1-Phantom and most K2-Phantoms can handle.

Plague Reaper was a frightening opponent not only because he was Top-1 and really strong, but also because of his potential.

However, everything in this world had its own balance and a strong creature needed a lot more time and resources to increase its power even more to get to the next level.

For this reason, Prime Thunder Demon stole the larva king because he was already close to evolution and needed a powerful, active source of energy to make the final leap to a new power.

Fume Cathedral also had a powerful energy source that was not easy to subdue. But it was a passive energy, as it had long been accumulated in tiny drops from the environment and energy crystals buried deep underground.

Did Plague Reaper come here for this energy? No, that kind of energy would not be able to help him start an instant evolution. For that, he needed powerful active energy like the larva king, but even that would not be enough.

For a creature like Plague Reaper to make a rapid evolution, it would take several larva kings full of energy or something more than that...

Silence.

At Plague Reaperʼs order all the gates were closed, there was no longer any way out of Fume Cathedral, at least not an obvious one.

Along with the tense silence came complete darkness, the few crystals in the ground were not enough to illuminate such a large room.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

The Fume Throne shuddered releasing a bright light that for a moment blinded everyone inside.

ʼRight... Silvana said Fume Throne was dangerous. At first, I thought Plague Reaper had some kind of special stance, but it seemed to take a while for Fume Throne to take effect. Adam muttered inwardly, looking at the bright light through his fingers.

Then, he bit his lip, looking at Plague Reaperʼs calm, serene face. Any monster or Phantom would have been at least startled by the sudden change in Fume Throne, but Plague Reaper looked as if he knew exactly what he had to do to avoid the consequences of his actions.

”Whatʼs going on!” Erla exclaimed, taking a few steps backward.

Osana frowned, confidently continuing to stand her ground.

”Fume Throne. Whoever sits on it must pass a test. If Plague Reaper passes, he will receive all the energy that has been stored inside Fume Throne for so long and will be able to give orders to Fume Armors, but if not, Fume Throne will destroy him, turning his life into its energy until a truly worthy one appears.” Osana said confidently, watching carefully as events unfolded.

Fume Throne was practically a living being, over the long time absorbing energy this object had developed a will of its own.

It couldnʼt be compared to a human mind or will, Fume Throne couldnʼt think and make conscious decisions like a living being.

But, Fume Throne was capable of acting according to strict rules as it did with anomalies. It was a mechanism that had to figure out if Plague Reaper, or anyone else who chose to sit on the throne, was worthy of all that energy.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

Thus, Fume Throne, all of its energy had a real aura just like Phantoms or Monsters.

Streams of white light quickly began to take the form of massive swords to be directed at only one target, Plague Reaper.

”Holy shit...” Katrin gulped as a shiver ran through her body, ”What is this power? Each of these swords is capable of inflicting powerful damage, both internal and external, right?”

It wasnʼt clear who Katrin was asking the question to, but they had someone who could answer either of them.

ʼYes, since Fume Throne uses its aura to control energy and swords are made up of stored energy, this attack is capable of damaging Plague Reaper more than once.ʼ Silvana calmly explained.

Everyone knew that with The Will and Spirit, one could only deal damage once, after which the aura could no longer affect the opponent. But, for Fume Throne, the weapon was energy, and the aura was just a tool with which it could fulfill its purpose and punish the unworthy.

Plague Reaper glanced at the seven snow-white swords that trembled slightly as if with a powerful desire to pierce their target.

Adam who like everyone else was watching this scene gulped. He now fully understood what would happen to him if he sat on Fume Throne. He wasnʼt sure if his abilities and aura would be enough to block or dodge each of the seven swords.

However... not one of the swords had attacked yet.

Whooooooooooooooooosh.

The first sword began to slowly rotate, gradually accelerating until a real vortex appeared around it.

Then, in a heartbeat, the sword came down directly on the Plague Reaper sitting serenely on the throne.

Crackle.

Plague Reaper jerked his head sharply, allowing the sword to pass close to his neck and pierce Fume Throne, sinking its broad blade a third of the way into the stone.

Adamʼs pupils dilated as the scene of the Plague Reaperʼs movements replayed in his mind. He could see it, he could understand the Plague Reaperʼs speed and it brought a slight smile to his face.

ʼOh, I see... He is indeed fast, but now that I have calmed down a bit after his sudden appearance, I can see that he is not invincible. At the very least, in our battle, Iʼll be able to keep up with his actions.ʼ Adam pondered as he prepared for the inevitable battle.

Unlike Oskar or Lero who just dreamed of escaping from Fume Cathedral and heading to a safe zone, Adam realized that it was unrealistic.

After everything that had happened, after the Plague Reaper had come here with a vested interest in the incident, there was no turning back. Only death or life, there was no other choice for any of them, neither Phantoms nor monsters.

ʼBut... He needs to deal with Fume Throne first. Itʼs unlikely heʼll be able to do that without a problem, if heʼs seriously injured, then I can take advantage of that and attack.ʼ Adam inwardly muttered glancing at his hands, electric shocks passed between his fingers.

Plague Reaper glanced at the sword that was next to his face and occasionally shook. At the same time, the next sword began to rotate, preparing to fall on its victim.

”Agh...” Plague Reaper let out a sigh filled with frustration before exhaling a black cloud of dust, causing the first sword to collapse.

Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.

The snow-white sword was covered in cracks, quickly disintegrating and turning into dark ash, like dust.

Osana frowned.

ʼSo it can do the same thing not only to a living being but also to energy? Thatʼs not good at all.ʼ Osana bit her lip.

Whooooooooooooosh.

At the same moment, the next sword descended on Plague Reaper with even greater speed than before. It seemed that this time the sword wouldnʼt miss because it was aimed at the monsterʼs chest and Plague Reaper had no time to dodge such an attack.

Then, everyone saw the sword stop abruptly, held back by Plague Reaperʼs palm and the invisible barrier between his hand and the sword.

It was his aura that was gradually growing, for Plague Reaper was about to activate his The Will and show his Spirit.