Endless Evolution: Last Star

Chapter 957: Those who soar above the mountain

Without a momentʼs hesitation, Hygon stepped out of the room - onto the observation deck of the Red Tower. The entire city, the entire Lower Ring was before his eyes. Perhaps he could meet the people from the other beast towers, but his gaze was directed solely downward.

At the same moment, one of the guardʼs phone rang out. He answered it and nodded deeply. Then, the red lights on the west gate lit up as if preparing for disaster.

”Hah, pretty quick. Though, if Orel would make me wait a minute longer, Iʼd do it without warning,” Hygon grinned widely before jumping down from the great height.

All the guards on the walls could see was his massive shadow moving straight toward the entrance of the Cave Grid.

Bam.

Once on the first floor, Hygon sprinted away in a few leaps to a lonely abandoned mine, where only rusty rails and a few broken minecarts remained from active work.

”I can use the elevator like everyone else, but... Is there any fun in that?” Hygon grinned widely as red energy covered his hands.

For a moment, his aura took on the silhouette of a terrifying, fierce beast unwilling to be left alone for a second.

Then, Hygon clenched his fists tightly, channeling all his energy into a single point. Soon, the density reached such a level that a tiny star emerged between his fists, as if from a powerful ability.

”The Red Zone means? The Fallen Ring Castle is far away, very far away, but you have to descend to the right level first. There are many mines underneath, the ground is practically hollow, so... I should manage it in one strike.”

The excited smirk covered his face.

”However, nothing is stopping me from striking again if I need to, right?”

As soon as his fists hit the ground the surface beneath him failed. One level after another, Hygon descended rapidly, shaking the entire Cave Grid with his savage presence.

Monsters and Phantoms sensed the arrival of the K4 creature, coming for its target. Nothing but the very depths of the Cave Grid could be a threat to Hygon, he knew that and would go no further than the Red Zone. After all, his goal was here.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

Even though Hygon was underground, the aftermath of his actions reached the Inner Field, causing the walls to shake and the towers to sway.

Lorana exhaled a puff of smoke and shook her head. ”Oh, Hygon, youʼre willing to do anything but sit still.”

Then, she looked at the pensive Orel continuing to watch Adam, Risha, and the Inferno Serpent.

”Itʼs no big deal. Itʼs just the same as before. You and I can only have one thing to do,” his deep voice boomed out. ”Continue to think and delve into your mind to find a way to reach the Second Circle. Everything else weʼve already done.”

With a dark look, Lorana nodded deeply. She was more familiar with this situation than most. She was a bit older than Orel and Hygon.

”Shit, things used to be a lot simpler. It didnʼt matter if it was K0, K2, or K3 level. You always had the option to gradually take steps forward. However, in our case, thereʼs no use in simply steps forward.”

She shook off the ash, a gleam running across her eyes.

”No matter how many steps we take, we canʼt cross the abyss this way. It requires a jump, just one, but we donʼt know how to do it.”

Orel put his hands behind his head. ”Yeah... Thatʼs a load of crap. Itʼs not like we should be complaining. Weʼre in no danger, even given the events of the near future... But, that feeling of hitting a wall is devouring you from the inside out.

”How did our boss do it? How did the heads of great families become the Second Rank Phantoms? And... More importantly, how did these monsters go a step even beyond that?”

”Are you talking about Damien and the others?”

”Yeah... Just imagine, tens of millions of people. In a few years, weʼll probably be close to a hundred million and only those bastards found a way to be at the very top,” Orel muttered.

Step.

Lorana stood up approaching the window.

”Well, we should be glad the Citadel has them, as well as Queen Elisa. If it werenʼt for them, some youths with fiery eyes like Adam and your sister would be sitting here instead of us.”

A bitter smile broke out of Orel. ”Heh... Instead of us? If things were as you say, there would be nothing left, not us, not the Red Tower or the Lower Ring or even the Citadel itself.”

Lorana said nothing, continuing to smoke silently. She realized that Orel was right, and she didnʼt know if that was good or bad.

ʼWhen we were weak, not even Phantoms, being in this place seemed like a dream, but...ʼ she internally muttered. ʼWhen youʼve climbed to the top of a mountain and you look up and see that there are those who soar over the mountain and above them are the ones who tower over the clouds... It gets pretty damn sad.ʼ

...

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Pushing through one floor after another, scaring away the monsters and Phantoms in his path, Hygon finally stopped at the middle floor of the Red Zone.

The first thing that caught his eye were the corpses of the obsidian lizards in the distance - not far from the elevator that no one had yet used since Adamʼs arrival.

”Well, well... Itʼs hotter than I thought. Itʼs been a long time since Iʼve been in this place. Hah, nothing has changed here since my days as a K3-Phantom, just lava, rocks, and scary eyes in the dark.”

Getting serious, Hygon focused, sensing hundreds of living creatures around him thanks to Gene Field. No one noticed it, all the monsters and Phantoms around were much weaker than him, so Hygon quickly found exactly where the Inferno Serpent was.

”I see, so they decided to go this way. How strange. Well, Iʼll catch up to them quickly, too quickly. I need to keep the distance,” Hygon scratched the back of his head. ”Otherwise Risha will notice me and complain to Orel. Itʼll be too boring.”