Endless Evolution: Last Star

Chapter 2011: A Miracle from Above

“Damn it!” cursed the man with the heavy hammer. “Hurry up! Let’s get out of here!”

Four other Phantoms were with him. They were all at K3 Level, and right now they were in a tough spot.

A horde of monsters was advancing on them from the crimson forest as they approached the ice hills, but this wasn’t a place of refuge, it was supposed to be their next destination, and they simply didn’t know where to go next.

“Hurry up!” The woman in second place waved her hand.

Her eyes flashed brightly as several sparks appeared in the air, which, in the next moment, launched flaming rays at the monsters in the distance.

The problem was that the monsters chasing them were too strong. These weren’t Yellow or Red Threat Monsters, but Black Threat Level monsters, and possibly some of them were Elders.

BAM!

The flaming rays struck the red spiders, which immediately burned to a handful of ashes, but when the rays struck the monsters next to the spiders, they merely flinched and continued on their way.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

A multitude of legs scurried across the ground as massive, black centipedes with red-tipped legs moved toward them. Their dense scales reflected the sunlight and ended in sharp edges like hundreds of blades covering their massive bodies.

Sure, size was never an accurate measure of strength, but no one in this squad could even scratch these centipedes.

The man gripped his hammer tightly as he turned to the woman.

“Have you heard back from the Citadel?”

Unfortunately for all of them, she shook her head with a grim expression. She and every member of their team had tried countless times to find help, here or at the Citadel, but to no avail.

“All the K4-Phantoms are too far away from us. This… This is the end.”

The man’s grip around his hammer loosened as his weapon nearly slipped from his hand.

You couldn’t blame them for that. Many Phantoms and squads had met such an end.

After all, the mortality rate among Phantoms was very high, especially among those who regularly went on missions to become even stronger, hoping to advance to the next level.

Well, if their squad had ended up in the Primal Lands, it really would have been all over for them.

They didn’t yet know that they had been saved just a few minutes earlier.

Suddenly, a blue star appeared in the sky.

The star was getting closer and closer to them, moving at tremendous speed.

The man and woman blinked as, at that very moment, the giant spear crashed down on the black centipedes, tearing each one to pieces.

But the spear didn’t stop there. It shone brightly as powerful waves of blue energy burst forth toward the crimson forest, tearing apart every monster that had rushed out from there to hunt the Phantoms.

They were saved, and as strange as it may seem, they were too weak to know who or what had saved them.

Usually, Phantoms only learned of Azure Island at the K4 level. In rare cases, at the K3 level, if they were strong enough to survive the World Wipe under Queen Elisa’s barrier.

And there was a reason for that.

At those levels, the Phantoms weren’t strong enough to travel through the Primal Lands, the Tarnished Lands, and other areas where Frida wasn’t able to help them.

Thus, all Phantoms up to that point could potentially have received help from Frida, but neither Frida nor the Citadel wanted the Phantoms to know about it.

If, whenever danger arose, the Phantoms thought that Frida would now hurl a spear in their direction and save them, the mortality rate among those Phantoms would have increased many times over.

Frida couldn’t always help. It all depended on the situation, though she could often influence events so that the Phantoms would at least stay alive.

So it was better for everyone if those Phantoms thought they’d been saved by a miracle, and that next time, they wouldn’t be so lucky.

Once, at the very beginning of his journey, something similar happened to Adam. One of his very first opponents was the Prime Stone Goliath. If it hadn’t been for Frida’s spear, the other giants would have killed him, but back then he was too weak and knew too little to even guess who had saved him or how the Citadel was organized.

…

“Is everything okay?” the girl asked, meeting Frida’s stern gaze.

Frida nodded deeply.

“Yeah, there’s nothing else nearby that poses a threat to them. Apparently, there was an Elder in the Crimson Forest who was controlling those centipedes, but now they have nothing to worry about. Let them send help.”

“S-Sure! We and the military are already on it! The nearest spire has set out on a rescue mission!”

Frida sighed deeply.

“Good.”

She didn’t show it, especially not in front of her subordinates, but she’d been doing the same thing for decades. Frida didn’t complain, because she’d chosen this role for herself. She was the sole guardian of all the weak Phantoms, and she was ready to continue her work.

She needed a break, truly, but she was too proud to admit it.

“Alright, as I said, I’ll need to leave my post for a while. I’m leaving you in charge.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

With a slight nod, Frida’s form trembled.

Tremble!

Like a ghost, she appeared in the distance, higher than her own island, and there was only one reason for this.

“Kamora! What are you planning to do?!” Frida exclaimed, staring intently at the two figures before her.

Adam and Kamora stopped abruptly. From Kamora’s wide-open eyes, it was clear she hadn’t expected Frida to be there.

“Ah? Frida? What do you want from us?” Kamora frowned. “Go back to your island!”

She stuck out her tongue, causing Frida’s eyebrow to twitch.

“You…”

Frida touched her temples before looking at Adam.

“Where are you going with him?”

“Hmm?” Kamora touched her lips. “Isn’t it obvious?”

She smirked, glancing at Adam.

“I’m going to show him the Nova Hail!”