Endless Evolution: Last Star

Chapter 1286: Observer from the Darkness

Initially, Adam came to the Arachne Nest to kill Nollura and use that to provoke Ureyn into a fight. Still, as it turned out, Gareyna had changed several details in her story quite significantly.

Either way, Adam’s goal remained unchanged. He still needed to challenge Ureyn to a fight to obtain the Connected Heart.

He didn’t kill Nollura, but there was no longer any need to. Now that she was with him, he had two options. Adam could either use Nollura’s help or use the Black Cut emblem that Norax had given her earlier.

Step. Step. Step.

Thus, Adam and Nollura left the nest, heading straight for one of the many gray mills. On the way there, Adam had a lot to learn about the upcoming String Duel, but now he was on the home stretch before finally getting a worthy fight.

The cave remained empty, except for a few black spiders who could finally breathe a sigh of relief. Although Adam and Nollura’s fight was short, the simple spiders had to endure stress several times.

A few minutes after Adam and Nollura left the cave, in a corner covered in shadows, darkness gathered in a vertical slit.

Tremble.

With a slight tremor, a portal opened, from which emerged a man in a long coat with jagged edges.

His unusual purple eyes flashed as his vision followed Adam and Nollura, who were already several hundred meters away. For someone like him, following them for even kilometers would not be a problem.

His skin was smooth and almost pale, with sharp features, and his black hair was tousled, with ends like hail of blades pointing in different directions.

“So, this old witch finally has a chance to get rid of Arachne and awaken the wrath of the young Ureyn, but… Ah, Adam Vinter, you always choose all the wrong paths, yet you achieve your goal.”

Norax touched his face with his hands in black leather gloves before taking a deep breath.

“Agh… Can you feel it? Finally, something is happening. I thought that until the next World Wipe, I would have to continue drinking tea and playing chess with these old men, but the younger generation is always moving forward, isn’t it?”

Then, his gaze caught on the altar in the middle of the cave.

It wasn’t time to absorb the orb yet. Perhaps Nollura wanted to do it in a few days to help herself evolve. Right now, she had other priorities and problems.

“Hmm. However, Nollura did pretty well, too. If she had died and not used the emblem, we wouldn’t have gotten a decent String Duel. I guess she deserves a reward too, right?”

Step. Step. Step.

With a calm stride, Norax headed towards the altar as the orb trembled once, sensing his powerful but calm aura.

A stream of dark energy ran through his arm, moving straight towards the orb, which was the size of a head. It took Nollura several weeks after the last absorption to gather that much energy.

The altar worked steadily, but not very efficiently, as it absorbed energy from the river flowing down, which took energy from the Forgotten Mills lands.

Many monsters who were not strong enough to have their own mill, tower, castle, and so on used something similar. It was their way of earning the right to a better position in the territory where they had decided to stay.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

In a heartbeat, the orb increased in size tenfold, now resembling a tiny sun.

Norax grinned as he waved his hand.

A drop of blood fell to the ground as he used his blood as well as energy to speed up the process as much as possible.

“I’m sure she’ll be shocked when she sees this. Well, if she’s still alive after all that’s happened, that is. Hahaha, Gareyna definitely won’t want these two to be together. She has too high hopes for Ureyn to let some Arachne distract him.”

He waved his hand, opening the portal.

“Hahaha! Phantoms, I love them!”

Thus, Norax disappeared in the same way he had come.

Gradually, the black spiders ran out from under the rocks and cracks, no longer needing to hide after so long.

Many of them turned their gaze to the bright, massive orb hovering above the stone platform. Their desire to absorb this energy was enormous, but they understood that Norax had done this not for them but for Nollura. They would not dare to incur the wrath of either of these two, that was for sure.

However, one of the black spiders saw this as an excellent opportunity. Unlike most, he immediately headed not for the energy orb, but for a single drop of blood that had not yet been absorbed into the cold ground.

While the others were distracted, he quickly absorbed the crimson drop.

It seemed that this could not lead to any significant changes. Sure, the blood of monsters and Phantoms contained dense energy, but it was only one drop.

But… it was not the blood of some powerful monster or Phantom, it was the blood of Norax, the Abyss Cleave.

In these lands, no, in all of the Tarnished Lands, few would want to be his enemy. Fortunately for them, Norax was one of those with whom it was much easier to be friends than enemies.

Crack. Crack. Crack.

In just a few seconds, the black spider’s body trembled and began to crack in many places.

The other spiders turned toward him in disbelief, watching the transformation of one of their own.

A stream of black energy created something resembling a cocoon around the spider, which immediately sprouted blood vessels and rings of web, acting as an additional layer of protection.

Considering that the black spider had managed to absorb Norax’s blood without serious consequences, his evolution would be complete in just a few hours.

Did Norax himself know what had happened in the Arachne Nest and that his blood was the cause?

Of course he did.

“Hehehe, so he didn’t die?” Norax chuckled. “Not bad, not bad at all. Although I hoped for it deep down, to be honest, I didn’t expect it to actually happen.”

Now, Norax left Nollura not only with a reward but also with an enemy who might be able to take the energy orb from her.

…

At the same time, the one who started this mess began to gradually realize that his plan had failed.

Crash.

The cup of tea shattered in Gareyna’s grasp as the veins bulged on her face, trembling with rage.

“How the hell is she alive?” Gareyna rasped through clenched teeth as her gaze turned to the two figures moving straight towards the gray mill.

Adam and Nollura felt her gaze on them, but did not turn around. They understood how Gareyna felt, and for them, that was the only reward they could afford.

Sure, Adam would have liked to go back to her and smash her face for lying to him, but he simply couldn’t do it. Gareyna was a Lord and had already demonstrated that she could defeat him in a matter of seconds.

Then, Gareyna noticed a small black object in Adam’s hand as her eyes widened in realization.

“N-Norax…” she whispered.

Strangely enough, she immediately understood who was behind this, even though any Lord of the Black Cut could have given Nollura this emblem.

However, Gareyna did not doubt that it was Norax, and she was not mistaken.

On the other hand, a few kilometers away, a black mill stood under crimson light.

Norax descended the stairs, slowly heading towards Ureyn’s mill. He did so on foot, keeping his hands behind his back with a satisfied smile.

“Gareyna, I wouldn’t mind chatting with you, but now is not the right time.” He waved his hand, glancing toward the distant white mill. “At the String Duel, we will have that opportunity, and not only us!”

It was no problem for him to be right next to Ureyn’s mill, but he didn’t want to rush anywhere.

He knew he would arrive at the right moment when the String Duel began.

…

“So, will Ureyn and I be watched? Like spectators in an arena?” Adam asked as they walked along the tall, dry trees.

Nollura nodded deeply.

“Yes. It always happens that way. As I said, the last String Duel happened several decades ago, and it was monster vs. monster. Considering that you are Phantom and it will be Ureyn… Well, I’ll be surprised if anyone stays in their mill during your fight.”

Adam scratched the back of his head, puzzled.

“Hmm, given the situation, I understand why I’ll be getting so much attention, but what about Ureyn? Apparently, he’s different from the others, and Gareyna must have had reasons to deceive me.”

“Agh, Ureyn… He has talent and strong abilities. Many believe that in time, he will become one of the Lords and then one of the strongest at the Forgotten Mills. Naturally, Gareyna shares the same opinion. In a sense, she is his main sponsor.”

“But why?”

Nollura’s gaze darkened.

“Ambition. She wants to bring change to these lands, but to do so, she needs powerful allies. She can’t subjugate the Black Cut, but Ureyn… She’s confident she can manipulate him.”

‘Shit,’ Adam thought. ‘Women are terrifying creatures. I need to defeat Ureyn and get as far away from here as possible.’

He didn’t have long to wait.

They passed through the last trees and stepped onto a spacious plain in the middle of which stood a lone gray mill. The gates were tightly closed, but its owner was definitely there, not yet suspecting that soon he and the Phantom from the distant place would take the spotlight at the Forgotten Mills.