Endless Evolution: Last Star

Chapter 1997: What does death taste like?

Durand earned his title largely because of the nature of his energy and abilities.

He did not possess powerful fire, fierce lightning, or violent gusts of wind that obeyed his will. Nor could he control light, blood, or gravity on land.

Technically, his element wasn’t even darkness, but death and corrosion.

If Adam were here now and saw what had happened to Kamora’s hand, he would surely recall an old but important adversary from his path – the Plague Reaper.

If the Plague Reaper were on Durand’s level, he could have done something similar to Kamora’s hand. However, that didn’t mean Durand and the Plague Reaper had the exact same abilities.

Durand knew the strengths and weaknesses of his abilities, and he had been through enough battles to anticipate an enemy’s reaction to his actions.

He knew that Kamora wouldn’t let the dark spots spread beyond her wrist. Therefore, she would have to cut off her hand. She could have done this easily with her other hand, coating her palm with energy.

But… Kamora decided to choose an option that Durand had never encountered before.

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

Her sharp, shark-like teeth crushed the bones of her hand, tearing the still-fresh flesh and blood to shreds.

Gulp.

Kamora gulped, swallowing her hand as a bloodied stump remained on her arm. It looked far worse than a clean cut. The bone protruded along with torn muscles, as if she’d been attacked by a wild beast whose jaws had sunk into her right arm.

“You… What the hell did you do?” Durand was caught off guard.

He’d never seen anything like it.

No, that wasn’t the point. He didn’t understand why Kamora had done this. She could have simply cut off her own hand and been done with it. A fighter of her caliber could fight with one arm and still have a good chance of winning.

“Ah? Are you talking about this?”

Kamora opened her mouth as several dark pieces remained on her tongue.

Durand winced.

“What a disgusting thing…” Durand’s face twisted in disgust. “Why is everything you do so strange? You could have just cut off your hand. Tsk, you could have at least tried to dodge!”

Kamora tilted her head.

“Hmm?”

She looked at him as if he were talking nonsense and he was the fool of the two of them.

“Yeah, I could have dodged it, but I chose not to. And… Why would I want to lose my arm? If I’d just cut it off, I would have lost.”

Durand was speechless. He didn’t know whether to cry or laugh.

But he was sure of one thing – he had just come close to defeating an unknown Second-Rank Phantom.

“Huh… Yeah, you’re crazy.” Durand shook his head with a bitter smile on his face. “Are you saying you saved your hand just now? Look at your arm, it’s a massacre.”

“Oh…”

Kamora froze as if she’d only just realized she’d eaten her own hand.

“Right, I didn’t think of that. You’ve got me there. But…”

Her vacant gaze turned toward him. Something in Kamora’s large gray eyes sent a chill down his spine.

“I just wanted to know what your energy tasted like. It was a death aura, wasn’t it? Well, it turned out to be better than I expected.”

‘W-What?’ Durand was at a loss. ‘What is she talking about? Why is she discussing this so calmly? She ate her own damn hand, she didn’t just absorb my attack! What’s wrong with her?’

Crack.

Her right arm trembled as her bones turned into roots with vines instead of veins.

The roots and vines mimicked the structure of a human hand, growing into the right shape. But it was still just a tree and vines. It wasn’t a real hand made of flesh and blood.

Well, that wasn’t a problem for Kamora.

She tugged on her arm once more as her entire wooden arm transformed into a human one.

Clutch. Clutch.

She clenched her hand into a fist several times before nodding with satisfaction.

“Was that… Was that regeneration…?” Durand muttered, his pupils trembling.

It seemed he shouldn’t have been surprised by this. Many monsters, even fairly weak ones, possessed strong regenerative and healing abilities, and the Phantoms were no exception.

But there was another explanation for Durand’s reaction.

Under the influence of his energy, regeneration was impossible, at least until the last particles had dissipated. Usually, this took longer than the fight itself.

Thus, each of Durand’s attacks was not only deadly to his opponent but also prevented them from healing their wounds.

If Durand had been facing a regenerative monster, it wouldn’t have made any difference. On the contrary, such a monster would have lost the fastest, relying on its regeneration – which didn’t work against Durand.

However, Kamora was able to do it.

“I see.” Durand nodded deeply as he came to a conclusion. “I’m not sure exactly what your ability is, but it seems you’re not as stupid as I thought.”

He pointed at her right arm.

“That’s not ordinary regeneration, is it? It was a more complex process, that’s the only reason you were able to bypass the limitations of my energy.”

Kamora looked at her hand and shrugged.

“Yeah, something like that. I don’t know how to regenerate at such a frantic pace, so I have to use methods like this.”

“He?” Durand noted. “Who is she talking about? Wait… he and regeneration… Could she be talking about—”

Tremble.

Before Durand could come to a conclusion, Kamora’s aura grew stronger.

“Hey, I haven’t thanked you yet. You let me try something new, so I have to return the favor, don’t I?”

“Agh…?”

Durand was confused.

Crackle.

Kamora opened her mouth wide, and in the next moment, Durand’s pupils contracted.

A dark ray burst from her mouth, resembling his own energy. Dark particles streamed toward him, and he felt he couldn’t afford to be hit by the attack.

‘She… What is she?!’ Durand exclaimed before flying off toward the Gray Sea.