Endless Evolution: Last Star

Chapter 1993: Who will choose him?

While traveling through Island A215, Adam and Silvana discussed the possibility that the Befallen Crown might send an Ascendant Lord after him in the near future.

This was an opponent against whom Adam stood no chance. He would hardly even be able to escape, let alone win.

But what if they were wrong?

That thought occurred to Adam and Silvana.

Now, as the battle between the Second-Rank Phantom and the True Lord was about to begin, they had time to think about it since Adam’s battle was already over.

“Could it be that the Befallen Crown acted much faster than we expected?” Silvana muttered as her heart began to race from the other thoughts filling her mind.

Adam frowned.

“Are you saying that this True Lord came here for me? Are they so afraid of my future power that they decided to send not an Ascendant Lord but a True Lord?”

BAM!

Adam slammed his fist into the ground.

“What? Are they serious?” he exclaimed in outrage. “How could they possibly decide to do something like that? A True Lord against a K4-Phantom? That sounds ridiculous!”

Silvana bit her lip almost to the point of bleeding.

“Tsk. I agree with you. It’s so absurd that I wouldn’t even consider that possibility, but… after everything that’s happened. It’s the only explanation.”

She turned to him.

“What are the odds that a Second-Rank Phantom and a True Lord decided to fight right here, right now? We both know how rare battles like this are. But if this True Lord came here to kill you and a Second-Rank Phantom came to protect you, then everything falls into place.”

Adam’s expression froze.

What Silvana was saying made perfect sense. At the very least, the odds of this were far higher than a chance encounter between beings of this level.

“Let’s say you’re right, and this True Lord is actually here to kill me. What are we going to do?”

Silvana’s gaze grew serious, leaving the decision up to Adam.

“That’s for you to say. But I see only two options: get as far away from here as possible and return to Prasyx, then go back to the Citadel via Varreyn.”

“Or…”

“You could regain your strength and witness this battle with your own eyes.”

Obviously, the first option was the right one and the safer choice.

The second option offered Adam nothing but risk. The only thing he stood to gain by going to watch their battle was experience, and he’d find out what kind of Second-Rank Phantom had decided to protect him.

Well, that was enough for Adam to make up his mind.

Crunch.

With a crunch, Adam got to his feet, leaning against the rock behind him.

“Well, I think you know what decision I’ve made, don’t you?”

Silvana nodded calmly.

“Sure, I didn’t expect anything else from you. But are you sure you want to go there in this condition? I won’t stop you. I’ll do as you’ve decided, but right now you can barely stand on your own two feet.”

Adam didn’t deny it. He was, in fact, so weak that even a K2-Phantom could have defeated him right then.

But Adam wasn’t too worried about it.

“I’m fine, well… at least I’ll regain some of my energy once we get there. Judging by their auras, they’re far away, very far away. So… I’ve got just one problem.”

Adam looked around.

They were surrounded by endless dark waters and several islands on the horizon.

Now, Adam was too weak to fly.

“How am I supposed to get there?”

He looked at the island, at the monsters peeking out from under the rocks, then turned toward the water.

A glint flashed across his eyes as a sly smirk appeared on his face.

“Huh, I think I have an idea. Although… I’m not sure if it’ll work.”

Step. Step. Step.

Adam walked to the edge of the island as he channeled his energy into his hand.

A tiny blue orb, the size of a grain of rice, formed beneath his hand. That was all he could spare for this simple trick.

The orb dropped lower, and when it reached the island’s surface, it scattered in a bright flash.

Ripples spread across the water in several waves, like radar or a beacon trying to attract attention.

For the first few minutes, nothing happened.

But…

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

Soon, a tremor ran across the water, from several places at once.

Figures emerged from the Gray Sea as countless pairs of eyes gazed at Adam. Some eyes looked at him warily, while others were full of curiosity. Some were even afraid of him, but decided to swim over anyway.

“Hey, more of you showed up than I expected.” Adam smiled as he looked at the nearly dozen sea monsters.

Most of them were fish-like, resembling the barracudas that had attacked him at the very beginning, but among them were two crabs, as well as a jellyfish and someone else who immediately caught Adam’s attention.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t him who was choosing now – it was them.

“Which one of you is ready to take me to those two terrifying auras? I’m sure there’s someone among you who wants to find out what’s going on there. As you can see, I’m too weak right now to get there on my own,” Adam offered with a warm smile on his face.

Right now, he was trying to seem as friendly as possible.

Several monsters left immediately. For them, it was too dangerous. Of the original eleven, only five remained.

One of the crabs swam closer, staring at Adam.

“What are you willing to offer in return?”

Adam waved his hand.

“All the energy I’ll have restored by then.”

The crab pointed at Adam’s right arm.

“What about this? It doesn’t look like you’ll need this limb anymore. There’s a lot of energy in it…”

A clear hunger appeared in the others’ eyes.

However, Adam shook his head.

“Nah, regenerating limbs is too much trouble. That’s not on the table.”

The crabs exchanged glances and disappeared underwater.

The jellyfish and another fish watched Adam for a while before leaving as well. They weren’t willing to take a risk just for his energy.

Adam looked at the last remaining monster. It was a shark, white on the bottom and black on top. It had a long body and a pointed snout designed to slice through the water.

Adam smirked.

“Looks like you’re the only one whose curiosity is as high as mine, isn’t that right?”