Endless Evolution: Last Star

Chapter 1054: Rider (Part 2)

The Last Star.

Everyone, whether Phantom or common man, child or old man, baker or long-serving military man, had heard of the Last Star.

It was the brightest star in the sky, majestic and magical.

According to the legend that mothers told their children as a bedtime story when the Last Star fell from the sky, it marked the beginning of a new world.

This was the basic theory followed by Phantoms, Operators, government officials, and ordinary people, regardless of age.

When the Last Star fell, the energy, monsters, anomalies, artifacts, essences, and everything that Adam and the Phantoms of his level knew at this point came into existence.

However, ordinary people knew about Phantoms and monsters as well. Even Adam, a slum dweller knew what artifacts were, how dangerous monsters were, and what Phantoms did.

The only thing Adam knew more about the Last Star than anyone else was the Midnight Crystals. He needed one of them to become a K2-Phantom.

The Citadel believes that the Midnight Crystals were shards of the First Star. This was what Adam learned from Silvana who was able to access the archive given her level that day.

Was it true?

Who knows.

Adam didn’t think about the Last Star too often because for the most part it was either a legend or a theory of how their world came to be.

In a way, he was grateful to the Last Star because it allowed him to become a Phantom. At the same time, the Last Star might be the cause of all his problems.

Perhaps, Adam would never have been born in the slums and would never have had to become a Phantom for the sake of a normal life if the Last Star had not started their world.

Neither he nor anyone else who’d asked that question would ever know the answer, but not that it was necessary.

And... What had Adam just heard?

”The First Star...?” he muttered, his voice shaking as if he’d cast the most horrible spell.

Adam didn’t question whether he heard the rider correctly. Deep inside, he realized that a man like the rider, someone possessing such great power, would not have misspoken a few words.

The rider nodded slowly.

”Yes, the First Star, young human...”

Rider swept his gaze over the still-trembling Adam.

”Judging by your reaction, I was the first to tell you about the First Star. Well, that’s not a surprise considering your level of power. Secrets like power only go to the strong, because if everyone got one, the world would quickly descend into chaos.”

Whoosh.

A cold stream of wind whistled through the shimmering barrier like an uninvited guest.

Adam turned his gaze to the side, slowly turning back to the rider. There was no one around, not the stone flowers from the gorge, not the gray beasts, not the bone worms.

It seemed as if the whole world went blank so that the rider could carry out the execution and return to his hideout.

”You... You’re going to kill me?” Adam asked directly.

He didn’t want to think about the First Star or the Last Star. Right now, he was facing a monster who could kill him with a wave of his hand, whose aura wouldn’t even let him get off his knees.

He needed a simple answer to a simple question.

And, the rider didn’t torture him.

”No.”

After his short reply, the rider headed towards a dew tree, as if forgetting about Adam for a while.

Slowly, the pressure on Adam became less, but he was in no hurry to get up from the ground. He realized that the rider would easily catch up with him and kill him, no matter how fast he ran.

Whether Adam liked it or not, he was now completely in the rider’s power.

Only one thought filled Adam’s mind:

’He’s a monster, but... who is he? Is he at a higher level than a Red Threat Level or... is he one of the Lords?!’

Despite his curiosity, Adam wasn’t reckless enough to ask the rider about it.

Tap.

The rider tapped lightly on a dew tree. A light shiver ran down the trunk of the snow-white tree causing dozens of shining drops to fall.

But none of the drops managed to reach the ground, all hovering around the rider. The pressure from his aura was enough to stop such small objects.

With the next sweep of his hand, all the dew headed towards the rider’s hand, accumulating into one small sphere hovering above his palm.

Under Adam’s gaze, the rider headed towards him as the horse got behind Adam, forcing him to lean forward.

”So you were brought here by a black flash... I don’t know what battles you’ve been through recently, but given the circumstances, you must be exhausted, right?”

Before Adam could answer, the dew flew into his mouth like a large but very soft jelly apple.

An unprecedented stream of energy flowed towards his Evolution Tree, repairing all the tiny damage left from his recent fights and attempts to reach the dew tree.

Some of the energy was absorbed by his Initial Gene, which continued to burn brightly in the fire. Lone Blaze was unaware of the mortal danger Adam had just gone through. She was fully focused on creating something new and now she has more resources.

Sweep.

Rider swung his arm.

”AGH!!!” Adam took a deep breath as all the pressure disappeared in an instant. It was as if he had surfaced from the deepest hollow and crawled out from under a multi-ton press.

”Hmm, absorbed the energy so quickly? Your tree is surprisingly strong... Although that’s primarily to your credit, isn’t it?”

The rider’s eyes narrowed. Unlike Rosana who struggled to discern Adam’s dark aura, it was no problem for the rider to see the two silhouettes lurking in the depths of his story.

”What is your name, young Phantom?”

Adam stumbled to the ground, raising his gaze. ”Adam... Adam Vinter!”

”Without a title...? Though that’s how it should be at your level.”

Then, the rider leaned over, extending a hand to Adam.

”Nice to meet you, Adam Vinter. My name is Kenward, Rider of Darkness.”