Endless Evolution: Last Star

Chapter 757: Three Options

Stopping at the riverʼs end, Adam turned his gaze to the dozens of monsters waiting for him on the platform. The last obstacle before entering the temple wasnʼt any kind of structure, unlike a fortress or cathedral.

Adamʼs gaze traveled further, he didnʼt feel threatened by the monsters, he didnʼt notice anyone new among them, which meant there was nothing to worry about.

”I see... So it ends here?”

The high columns and ruined walls with bizarre patterns with unknown meaning to Adam - all the temple grounds represented, at least until Adam reached a core of scarlet lights burning brightly in the center.

[Hurry, please. Time is getting short... You wonʼt make it...]

”Calm down. Iʼm almost there. Those weaklings wonʼt be able to stop me, especially with your strength.”

Step.

Adam stepped forward, turning into a shadow. A blast of fire left behind him, then his silhouette appeared in the middle of a dozen monsters waiting for him to arrive.

It seemed that they werenʼt going to fight him, they had another purpose, but... Adam didnʼt want to look into it, he didnʼt have time for that.

With cold eyes, Adam gripped his needle tightly, making a wide swing.

”Die, enough trying to stop me. My coming here... was inevitable.”

The long-clawed paws, spears, and daggers charged at Adam, yet overcoming the line of fire was impossible for them.

Slash. Slash. Slash.

A few lightning swings of a long needle turned a dozen monsters into burning pieces of flesh. In their attempts to regenerate, to repair themselves, they only gave the fire more reasons to turn them into smoldering embers.

”Hmm?”

Adam turned around looking at several pieces of the Vile Believer, despite the gruesome damage they were desperately trying to connect, if it wasnʼt for the red flames they would surely succeed.

”What a powerful regeneration. If it were two or three times stronger it would be the level of the Regenerative Monsters, without any flaws, only due to irregular energy...”

Suddenly, Silvanaʼs voice echoed in his head:

ʼAdam, be careful, I think that along with the regeneration, the aggressiveness of the monsters is also increasing, moreover... someone is tracking you.ʼ

He nodded slightly, directing his gaze forward.

”Yeah, I noticed that a long time ago.”

On the far side of the temple, hiding behind the rubble, two silhouettes watched Adam, but they were in no hurry to attack, disappearing behind the columns.

He had no other course of action, so with one last look back and a glance at the bloody river, Adam headed forward.

Lone Blaze told him to hurry, but the rubble and columns didnʼt allow Adam to just run forward as along the riverbank, darkness was everywhere - as he got closer to the core more ruins appeared and their condition got better.

Instead of debris no bigger than stone, high walls with different patterns now surrounded him, potential enemies could be around every corner, lurking both, in the shadows and behind columns that were too massive compared to the walls.

For a moment, Adam stopped throwing his gaze upward, along the carved columns. They were twice the size of the black trees on the surface, ten men werenʼt enough to circle at least half of the column by holding hands.

”If this thing falls, the trembling will even reach the top of the fortress... but where did they come from in the first place?”

Then, he cast a glance to the side.

”Hey, this place was formed without your knowledge, right?”

For some reason, Lone Blaze remained silent for a while, only after a few seconds did Adam get his answer.

[Yes, when I realized what was going on then... I couldnʼt do anything anyway... I donʼt have absolute control over the monsters in my fortress, theyʼre not my slaves, weʼre allies... to a certain extent.]

Adam nodded slightly, he had heard this answer before, but for once something in Lone Blazeʼs voice was off.

Step. Step. Step.

After overcoming a few high walls, Adam stopped, he finally reached the center, seeing what he had originally expected.

”So this is it...”

Hundreds of monsters, the bloody river had only a fraction left, worked around a massive blood circle, the main seal of the ritual.

From the debris, blood was constantly flowing out in a slow trickle through the cracks, the river running below wouldnʼt let them dry up until there were at least a few drops left in it.

The blood streamed directly to the five dark rocks located on the borders of the blood circle - the bright lights that Adam saw from the serpent seal.

From each rock came a powerful stream of white fire with a scarlet tint, high and powerful, absorbing the energy from the bloody river and the monsters that wouldnʼt let any of the rocks fade away.

At the very center of the blood circle rested a massive crimson crystal, large enough to cast a shadow over a dozen people.

Yet, the energy from the blood circle was not being channeled towards the crystal, it seemed it had another purpose.

Adam slowly turned his head to the left, following the red line coming from the circle. In its path was a black coffin buried up to the lid in the ground, but even that was only an intermediate step.

The red line ended at the edges of a small pond, there was no water in the pond, only dark, thick blood that almost reached the peaks.

A massive serpent statue loomed over the pond, the serpent was similar to the ones on the gate and seal, but... the statue had no head, it was shattered, unknown how long ago it happened, but it wasnʼt a cut or intended originally.

Step.

As Adam took another step forward, his pupils went wide, and his heart beat many times harder.

Myriads of black particles came out of his body, he was already used to the constant slight ripples coming from his First Wall, but this time it was much more powerful.

The darkness was literally forcing him to go, unable to wait any longer, its patience had long since run out, and only Adamʼs will was holding back the First Wallʼs desires.

But... where exactly was the darkness leading him? Adam couldnʼt understand it, because there were three objects on the trajectory of his step - a crimson crystal, a black coffin, and a bloody pond.