Endless Evolution: Last Star

Chapter 1404: The Judge’s Turn

The first Hybrid appeared. It seemed that Adam had already achieved his goal and should have shifted his attention from Beatra to Erada, because Beatra was not strong enough for him to become stronger by defeating her, and she obviously did not meet the conditions to receive the Dark Heart.

But, in fact, that was not the case.

His and Helasa’s plan was to attract as much attention as possible by revealing his name during the battle at the Red Eye Arena. Erada was only the first Hybrid, and even considering their rarity, she was far from the only one at Izardo.

So, perhaps Erada would be the one Adam would face to obtain the Dark Heart, or perhaps she was just a simple upstart trying to attract attention.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Beatra attacked Adam, even though each punch caused pain in her hands. Drops of blood flew in all directions, but she continued.

Although it was obvious to everyone that Beatra had no chance of defeating Adam, no one interfered, neither the spectators nor the judge.

‘He… Could he be serious about me?’ Beatra wondered as she watched Adam block her attacks. There was a slight smile on his face, not to show his arrogance, but just from enjoying the fight.

Despite spending most of her time in the arena, Beatra lacked this lightheartedness. She couldn’t enjoy the fight if she was losing.

She only realized this now.

BAM!

Adam’s fist slammed into her stomach as she doubled over.

“Are you thinking about something?” He joked, appearing to her right. “If you don’t focus on your opponent, you’ll miss a lot more hits.”

Clutch.

Before Beatra could recover, Adam grabbed her wrist tightly and threw her high into the air like a cannonball.

For a moment, Beatra hung in the air as her eyes widened, watching the previously unreal scene.

More than a thousand monsters, all seats occupied, were looking at her. Not only them, but Adam as well, albeit for a brief moment, she became the center of attention.

‘Wow… They’re all looking at me, even though I’m losing…?’

Soon, two bright flashes appeared from below, attracting everyone’s attention.

“Hmm?” The man with long black hair raised an eyebrow. “What is he trying to do?”

Several people, both from the chambers and those standing between the rows, as soon as they arrived, stared intently at Adam.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

The space trembled from two points that appeared like tiny stars between Adam’s clenched fingers.

“You can’t use your abilities, but there are no rules on your energy, right?”

Adam looked down, his hands trembling as they struggled to withstand the cruel pressure he was putting on his energy.

One of the most significant defeats on his path was the battle against Damien. Since then, even though Damien had limited his power to a pitiful K2-Level, Adam had never seen such superb control over energy.

‘Then, he destroyed my ability just by creating a cut with his energy. My control is still far from his, but I can try to use it for something interesting.’

Beatra was in free fall when Adam brought the two stars closer together, stopping at the last moment to prevent them from colliding.

The trembling energy created a connection between the two stars as Adam spread his arms out to the sides, creating a straight line of energy above him that curved into a crescent blade.

Adam’s eyes sparkled with excitement as he watched the unstable but extremely powerful blade.

Adam’s reaction showed that he himself did not expect to be able to bring his idea to life on the first try.

Beatra, who was about to face the blade, was lost.

The first thing she thought was that Adam was using some kind of ability, but she quickly realized that it was just his energy. Even though, after a certain level, any Phantom or monster could use their energy freely, doing something like this was difficult even for a High Elder.

It wasn’t just an energy projectile or an enhancement of a part of his body, but an energy form comparable to an ability. Sure, the blade was unstable and would disintegrate in a few seconds, but Beatra would be hit before that happened.

Whoooooooosh.

The crescent blade shot forward, streaking across the arena in a white flash.

Beatra put her hands out in front of her, preparing to create an energy barrier, but in just a single heartbeat, she realized one thing:

‘No, I won’t make it… I won’t be able to stop it. That blade…’ Her pupils trembled. ‘It will just cut me in two!’

Killing another fighter was against the rules, everyone knew that.

But sometimes one fighter simply didn’t know that his attack was too strong, and his opponent had no chance to defend himself and survive the next hit.

Unfortunately for Beatra, she found herself in just such a situation.

Several particularly strong monsters from the audience had already imagined what would happen to her.

“The blade will just pass through her, blood will flood the arena, and her organs will scatter on the ground,” was the general opinion.

What happened in such situations? Was Beatra left with no choice but to accept her death?

No, the rules were never broken and were always followed. Sometimes, outside help was simply needed.

Whooooooooosh.

Just as the white crescent was about to reach Beatra and end her life, a shadow flew out of the darkness and appeared in front of Beatra in a heartbeat.

A man in a long coat and short beard reached out his hand, clutching the blade between his fingers.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

The blade trembled as white flames burst forth, but the man’s hand did not waver, nor did his steady stare.

In the end, cracks ran across the blade as it shattered into many pieces.

Hop!

The man caught Beatra, and in the next moment, they were both on the ground.

“Are you okay?” The man turned to her.

Beatra gulped. “Yes, I think so.”

“You are…?” Adam raised an eyebrow, looking at the man, puzzled.

He nodded deeply. “Yes, I am the judge. You can rejoice, for you have won.”