Endless Evolution: Last Star

Chapter 716 Heʼs Not Here

Before Gnash arrived with her squad, they were only one of many, yet one of the largest and strongest squads heading towards the fortress, Katrin approached the gate:

”Hmm?”

Katrin frowned, her coat trembling slightly with impatience.

”Whatʼs the matter? Shouldnʼt you be summoning your auras? I want to enter the fortress!”

For some reason, Katrin and the two Dark Watchers were confused. Trying to figure out what the matter was, the monsters turned around and banged their spears on the gate a few times.

Yet, there was no response from the fortress. For some reason, the External Artifact was ignoring them, even though everything was fine less than an hour ago.

Only a few seconds later, a light purple light traveled across the seal on the gate. Compared to the aggressive flames Adam had encountered, it was a weak spark, struggling to hold its shape.

It slowly flew towards Katrin as she instinctively strengthened her aura, just a little.

Whooooooosh.

It was enough to make the spark shudder, back to the gate in fear.

The Dark Watchers looked around, this shouldnʼt be happening, but they didnʼt know what they should do. Was it worth it for them to fight or stay out of Phantomʼs way?

Soon, not only them, but every Phantom had an answer.

Crackle.

The rune on the gate flashed, as two massive slabs came into motion, clattering to the ground.

Katrin blinked a few times, then the baffled expression changed to a confident smirk.

”Hah, Alan, did you see that? My aura is so powerful that I did it in an instant! I also quickly defeated the guard, but he was a complete coward!”

With a wave of her hand, Katrin headed onward with a confident stride, passing by the Dark Watchers. They had no choice but to step aside and let her pass in.

Alan bit his lip but didnʼt say anything. He knew that it shouldnʼt be like this, that something was wrong in the fortress, but he was an experienced Operator and realized that now was not the time to argue.

ʼHmm... I donʼt know what Phantom was, but after it entered the Fortress of the Lone Serpent, changes started to happen.ʼ

Whooooooooooooooooooosh.

The powerful wind currents coming from the gate reached the other Phantoms, attracting their attention, soon everyone heard their Operator receiving new data. It was not only Alan who was doing the work but also the military helping him to relay the information from Katrin to the others.

It was a mission of the utmost importance, for the lives of hundreds of Phantoms that would soon arrive here depended on whether they could successfully survive the Eclipse or not.

Viron and Gnash looked at each other, Vironʼs gaze was frighteningly calm, it alarmed her, but something bothered her even more.

”Katrin Graeme?”

Gnash snorted unhappily before swinging her arm and heading forward.

”Isnʼt she the same Phantom who defeated the Plague Reaper?”

Despite her words, there was no sense of elation or at least respect in Gnashʼs voice for Katrin for accomplishing such a feat. Viron noticed this as well.

With a slight shake of his hand, Vironʼs face grew colder but filled with curiosity, giving him an even stranger aura.

ʼʼWhy do you have such a tone? Isnʼt it good that she killed the strongest Purple Threat monster? I havenʼt encountered it, but Iʼve heard that the difference between him and Top-2 is immense.”

Looking over her shoulder, Gnash gave him an irritated grimace, her purple eyes narrowed.

Gnash growled:

”Are you stupid?!”

No emotion appeared in Vironʼs expression.

”Agh, surely defeating the Plague Reaper is a great achievement, for a while Iʼve been hunting that monster myself, I wanted to test my strength, you know?”

After a few seconds, shrugging her shoulders, Gnash continued:

”So I heard about this instance and I know what happened there. Getting a recording of their NEPs isnʼt hard at all. And, the bottom line is that Katrin Graeme dealt the Plague Reaper the final hit, however... I canʼt estimate her contribution to the victory at more than 20% or even 15%.”

Viron broke his silence.

”I see... So she had a team.”

Gnash nodded deeply.

”Yeah, some of them died, some managed to survive, some did more, some did less, itʼs not all that important.”

Then, Gnashʼs stern gaze softened slightly, and a bright light appeared in her eyes hiding deep inside.

”What really matters is that without one of them, they could forget about winning. They literally wouldnʼt have a chance of surviving without him.”

Vironʼs eyebrow rose upward.

”Him...? Who are you talking about?”

In a heartbeat, Gnash directed her gaze downward and blushed slightly, her breathing quickened and her bosom slowly swayed.

”Adam Vinter... I found out later that it wasnʼt his first mortal combat, but... defeating the Plague Reaper was his greatest achievement.”

Gnash looked up as if distraught, her eyes wide and her pinky clenched between her teeth, the corners of her lips forming a smile of ecstasy.

”Just to think, a nobody from the slums gave a fight to the Plague Reaper himself, I... I just canʼt resist such a metamorphosis, itʼs too enticing...”

As soon as her voice sounded, the looks of many changed, including Vironʼs. It wasnʼt her strange reaction, but the fact that quite a few of the Phantoms and their Operators gathered here knew who Adam was.

Most of them were still K1-Phantoms not so long ago, so as in all such situations, they heard of outstanding Phantoms of their level.

Sure, there were those with puzzled faces who turned their heads from side to side trying to figure out what affected everyone, and hardly many watched all of Adamʼs fights like Osana, she had her reasons.

But, it was obvious that among the K1 and K2 Phantoms, Adamʼs fame was higher than average for the others.

A cold wind blew beside them, Viron slowly turned around towards the hills.

A multitude of shadows, monsters, and Phantoms were approaching from all sides, enemies, and allies.

”Yeah... Youʼre probably right...”

Viron nodded deeply, exhaling a cold vapor.

”But, thereʼs no point in thinking about it since thereʼs no Adam Vinter here.”