Endless Evolution: Last Star

Chapter 1989: Who the Monsters Feared

Adam had already forgotten what it was like to be an ordinary human. Sure, like any person, he knew how to enjoy life, laugh at jokes, eat, sleep, and so on. He hadn’t turned from an ordinary person into a haughty bastard who would use his power for the sake of power and control over others.

But he had lost one feeling that lay deep within every ordinary human.

A small fraction of ordinary humans were connected to the Dead Lands in some way, but absolutely everyone feared monsters and understood just how dangerous they were.

An ordinary person didn’t stand a chance even against the weakest White Threat Level monster. Only trained soldiers with exoskeletons and the best equipment could fight monsters of that level and win.

Thus, as a race, humans were much weaker than monsters, and their numbers differed drastically, by more than a hundredfold.

There was only one reason why humans were still alive and why the Befallen Crown hadn’t killed every last one of them – the Phantoms.

That said, the Phantoms didn’t possess any incredible strength compared to the monsters. All the Phantoms were capable of was fighting monsters equal to them in strength. That’s it.

But… there was a small group of Phantoms that evoked in the Awakened Monsters the same emotions, the same fear, that monsters instilled in ordinary humans.

These were the Second-Rank Phantoms. There were few of them, but their power was more than enough to keep humanity alive and help it thrive even during the World Wipes.

Most of them were at the Citadel, and if a monster was even at the Black Threat Level, it knew about every one of them.

Frida was at the Citadel, Damien was at the Citadel, as were many others, such as the heads of the Twelve Branches.

However, not all of the Second-Rank Phantoms were at the Citadel. Even when they didn’t have missions or business in the Dead Lands, they still preferred to stay outside the walls of the Citadel.

One of the most striking examples of this was Goen – a Second-Rank Phantom whom Adam and Alexia had met in the Primal Lands. He lived in that remote part of the world, far from civilization, and he was strong enough to afford to do so.

But Goen wasn’t the only Phantom like that.

Whoooooooooosh!

A gust of wind swept past Adam. His cold expression showed that he wasn’t impressed by Breydar’s reasoning.

“You attacked me from behind just because of a slim chance that the aura might belong to a Second-Rank Phantom?” Adam grimaced.

He stepped forward, their foreheads nearly colliding.

“Perhaps you’ve forgotten this, Breydar, but you’re facing a First-Rank Phantom. I’m still in the First Circle, but you aren’t. By your logic, I should be trembling with fear just as you are right now.”

Step.

Breydar jumped back. He was afraid that Adam might attack him at any moment with such a short distance between them.

“You’re only talking like that because you don’t understand me. You’re a K4-Phantom who’s already killed two Viscounts, and who knows how many Lords you’ll kill before you break through your barrier. An Elder can’t defeat a Second-Rank Phantom!”

In fact, Adam could see that Breydar was telling the truth. There was fear in his eyes.

But… He didn’t care.

STEP.

With a confident stride forward, he clenched his fist tightly and slammed it into Breydar’s jaw.

The impact sent Breydar flying into the nearest rock.

“Kha!”

Adam took a deep breath.

“Ah… True, maybe I can’t fully understand you, Breydar. But isn’t that any different from a huge disparity in strength?”

“Arh?” Breydar grumbled as he got up from the ground. “What does that mean?”

Adam gave him a cold look.

“If an opponent is significantly stronger than you, you’ll feel fear – that’s to be expected. It doesn’t matter who you are, an ordinary human, a K2-Phantom, or even a Lord like you. The only place where these rules stop applying is at the very top.”

Adam towered over him as a shadow concealed his figure, leaving only his bright, blue eyes visible.

“If it really is a Second-Rank Phantom, so what?”

His gaze grew deeper.

“If that Phantom wanted to kill you, it would have already happened. I don’t know what kind of Phantom it is. It could be a man or a woman. Maybe it isn’t even a Phantom, and you were mistaken. Now, it’s just you and me here, Breydar.”

Clutch.

Adam grabbed Breydar by the collar with one hand.

“If you want to survive, fight me and don’t think about anything else. Unlike that Second-Rank Phantom, I’m here, and I’m going to kill you. I’ve never hidden that.”

BAM!

Before Breydar could respond, Adam yanked him toward him by the collar. His knee slammed straight into Breydar’s face.

With a loud crack, blood gushed from Breydar’s face, followed by Adam’s fist plunging into his chest.

“KHA!”

Blood gushed from Breydar’s mouth as he realized Adam was right. He couldn’t afford to think about future problems, because if he lost now, nothing else would matter – he would die, and that would be the end of it all.

“Don’t think I’ll give up that easily!”

Breydar exclaimed as two mist arms appeared beside him.

Whoooosh!

Adam lunged forward as flames engulfed his fist.

“I know. That’s exactly why I’ll keep attacking until your heart stops beating.”

A direct strike to Breydar’s face proved powerful enough to knock him to the ground.

The mist arms tried to attack Adam, but as soon as he swung his arm, several red threads appeared beside him, and a crimson glove appeared on his dominant hand.

Breydar opened his eyes only to catch a glimpse of Adam for a split second.

Then…

BAM!

Adam attacked again, with even greater force.

Neither of them had any energy or trump cards left. So, like ordinary people with nothing left to lose, they would beat each other to death with their fists.

At least one of them would.