Endless Evolution: Last Star

Chapter 1077: I Only Have One Wish (Part 1)

Step. Step. Step.

Adam hurried forward. A slight smile played on his face as he sensed that the Twilight Crystal, part of the First Star, was close at hand.

How had he realized it?

The dark route finally began to thicken. The wisps of darkness were no longer coming from all directions, they were guiding him along a single path as they had in the beginning.

Moreover, with every step he took, with every ten meters he covered on his way, the darkness grew denser and denser. Soon, instead of a ragged path, he would see a clear trail that would somehow lead him straight to his goal.

But the slight panic in his gaze contrasted with his joy. He could feel a terrifying aura coming from above.

Every time Saegar attacked, it was felt by all the monsters on the Soaring Chain Island. However, Serra’s energy wasn’t weak either, it was just on a different level.

Now, there was silence for a few seconds.

It was a good opportunity for Adam to breathe a sigh of relief and continue moving through the unusual caves.

The crystals, mushrooms, and quivering spores around him were becoming more and more numerous, turning into no less attractive a sight than Saegar’s colorful flower fields above of which he was so proud of.

A few monsters found themselves in Adam’s path, but as with the first encounter, all went peacefully. Each of the mushroom monsters was minding its own business.

If Adam didn’t attack or interfere with them, they had no reason to respond with aggression in his direction.

In a way, this was a nice bonus for Phantoms like him, as strong monsters were much smarter.

One man could be an enemy to another, but that wasn’t a sufficient reason for them to lash out at each other like wild beasts at first sight.

The weaker monsters behaved like that, and the stronger ones acted more wisely. This was not influenced by their appearance, no matter what path they chose – to move towards human form or the opposite of ancient monsters.

Whoosh.

Adam stepped out of the passage before coming to an abrupt stop in front of the cliff.

“What the…?”

His eyes went wide in disbelief, looking around.

Now, he was at the bottom of the gorge, but… another, underground one opened up in front of him.

There were stone bridges between the two edges, while dozens of meters below was a river descending ever lower, moving from right to left – that was where the dark route pointed.

“Hmm. Is that where the Twilight Crystal is?” Adam narrowed his eyes, trying to understand more about the new location.

Crystals protruded from the walls as well as wide mushroom caps, but there were no monsters around. There was nothing of value here, other parts of the caves had far more clusters of crystals, spores, and mushrooms, and it was much easier to get them.

However, Adam didn’t need any of that.

The Twilight Crystal was his path to salvation, a chance to get back home.

‘What do you think? Is it really there?’ Silvana asked, concerned.

Adam nodded weakly, advancing along the left edge.

‘Yeah, maybe there are new caves or expanse there, but… I doubt there’s too much left. Agh, you know, it’s pretty frustrating.’

Silvana raised an eyebrow. ‘Hm? What do you mean?’

‘Last time I needed another crystal, others and I had to wait a long time. The Midnight Crystal appeared, destroying everything in its path, now…’

Adam shook his head with a bitter smile.

‘I need to get out of the Dark Shore as quickly as possible, but the Twilight Crystal is hiding from me. I have to search for it like someone on an adventurer’s quest.’

‘Hah, you’re probably right about that. Well, it’s not the best scenario, but it’s not the worst. I think you should start coming down.’

Then, Adam’s gaze traveled lower. One, particularly large mushroom was below him.

True, he could jump and plummet straight into the river, even if it was shallow, it wouldn’t be an injury to him, but he didn’t know where the monsters might be lurking.

“Alright, there’s not much left, I won’t be in a hurry. Hope these mushrooms aren’t poisonous,” Adam muttered before taking a step forward.

Crackle.

At the same moment, from the opposite side of the underground gorge came a deafening explosion.

Three wing monsters spread their wings wide, the same trio that had tried to figure out where Adam was headed, and succeeded.

Red flames enveloped the broad-shouldered guy’s fists, while darkness dripped from the skinny guy’s wings. The girl on the right looked at Adam with a satisfied smirk as purple electric shocks ran before her predatory eyes.

“Hah, he ended up here after all!”

The flaming guy and girl stared at Adam, believing they had already captured him. At the same time, the skinny guy directed his gaze forward. He sensed that in the depths of the underground gorge, something was hiding, an ancient, calm darkness that was not comparable to his own.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

In a heartbeat, all three of them activated their auras. The three figures above them burst apart to become sprawling fields that moved straight at Adam.

After all, they didn’t need to kill him right now. Such a decision would have been a reckless one.

They still had to find the Twilight Crystal, and for that, they needed Adam alive. The best way to capture him was to overwhelm him with auras and wound him, but not fatally.

But… Adam wasn’t going to surrender.

Before the black, red, and purple fields could engulf him, a white one appeared around him, colliding with three enemy auras at once.

Soon, their smirks fell off their faces.

Even with the three of them, they were unable to suppress Adam’s aura. His white field was actively trembling before the onslaught of the three monsters that must have been an S5-Level at the Cave Grid, but they couldn’t break through his aura.

“What the hell…?” The broad-shouldered guy stammered.

Step.

Adam stepped forward as two very different-looking needles came into both of his hands.

“Three more, then? Good. There will only be fifteen left after you. Though… By the time the others find me, I’ll be out of here.”