Endless Evolution: Last Star

Chapter 1950: First Attempts to Break the Grand Barrier

Adam had been waiting a long time for this moment.

He had wanted to reach the limit of the K4 Level for a long time, but he hadn’t realized before just how difficult it was to do so.

It wasn’t until he saw the conditions for the Third Grand Star that he gradually began to realize just how long and arduous the path had been.

But although the Three Grand Stars had been a series of trials he had to endure, they were not the final ones.

Only now did he stand before the final trial of the First Circle.

And this was understood not only by Adam, but also by the Path Construct, which had now, to some extent, become that barrier itself.

[Welcome.]

A mechanical voice, familiar to Adam, rang out in the dark space. He knew this was how the Path Construct communicated. As a system within the device, its voice lacked the depth or warmth of the Evolution Tree’s.

[The Constellation has been created, but to activate it, the Grand Barrier must be destroyed. This will also mark the transition to the Second Circle of Evolution.]

Adam received no further explanations or hints.

He remained in the darkness before the barrier that stretched across the entire world.

“Well… Actually, that’s pretty much how I imagined it.”

Adam looked left and right, but he couldn’t see the barrier’s boundaries.

All he knew was that the Grand Barrier lay before him, and part of it was the Path Construct with his Constellation.

The magic circles were still radiating out from the Path Construct, forming part of the Grand Barrier.

Adam narrowed his eyes.

“I see… But before I try to do anything here, I need to check something…”

His expression grew serious as he reached out his hand.

Adam tried to summon his needle, but… he couldn’t do it.

From the very moment Adam entered the dark space, he sensed that something was wrong here. He had lost the sensation of energy surrounding him, even though he had always felt it before, both in his inner space and in the real world.

“Maybe I’m doing something wrong?” Adam paused.

He decided to try again, but this time more slowly and with greater focus. He assumed that he might have failed because he only had a small portion of his energy at that moment, that he hadn’t fully recovered yet from the battle against Midgar.

But it was actually much simpler than that.

“How…? How is this possible?” Adam muttered as he frowned. “I can’t feel my energy at all. It’s as if I’ve become a regular person, no… the situation is different.”

He bit his lip.

“I know how to use energy and how it feels. Even if I’d lost all my energy and found myself at the Citadel or in any other area, I’d still feel it surrounding me, but… not here…”

At that moment, Adam came to a simple yet alarming conclusion: in the dark space, he couldn’t use his energy, and there was no energy around him at all.

He found himself in a vacuum where there was no oxygen, and he didn’t have an oxygen tank with him.

“Damn. My energy is still with me, I have no doubt about that, but I can’t feel it or use it, and the same goes for this place…”

Adam had no messages or clues, nor did he know the conditions he needed to fulfill to destroy the Grand Barrier.

“Huh.” He smiled bitterly. “If there were a list of conditions here, every other person would become a Second-Rank Phantom, right?”

Now, Adam had only one option left, to test the Grand Barrier’s strength.

Step. Step. Step.

With a confident stride, Adam headed toward the Grand Barrier, clenching his fist tightly.

He twisted his torso before striking the glass wall with all his might.

BAM!

A shockwave rippled out, shaking the surrounding darkness.

Perhaps his energy was currently beyond his reach, but his physical power remained intact. He possessed just as much might as before.

Thus, Adam struck with full force, holding nothing back. If that punch had landed on Midgar’s face, it would have certainly knocked out a few of his teeth or broken his jaw.

But…

“Tsk.” Adam clicked his tongue as he took a step back. “Really? Nothing?”

There wasn’t a single scratch, crack, or anything else left on the Grand Barrier. The Grand Barrier remained completely undamaged, and even the shockwave that rippled across its surface caused only a small part of it to tremble.

Scratch. Scratch. Scratch.

Adam scratched the back of his head, hoping he could come up with something right then and there.

Sure, deep down, Adam knew he didn’t stand a chance of destroying the Grand Barrier on his first try.

But he still wanted to try. Even if he didn’t succeed now, there was no harm in making a few attempts to better understand the problem he was facing.

“So simple punches don’t work? Or… Maybe I didn’t hit hard enough? After all, it was just one punch, right?”

With these thoughts in mind, Adam approached the Grand Barrier and clenched his fist again.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Adam landed one punch after another, without stopping.

He wanted to make sure that brute force wouldn’t help him here. If, even after a barrage of direct strikes, not a single scratch or crack appeared on the Grand Barrier, then there was no point in continuing his attempts.

BAM!

He landed one last punch before stepping back. His arms trembled from the force of his own blows. This was his inner space, so he didn’t hold back and kept striking the same spot until he could no longer continue.

Adam sighed before looking at the result.

But… Nothing but disappointment awaited him.

“No way… N-Nothing…?” His voice faltered.

The Grand Barrier remained unscathed. Even after all the attacks Adam had launched, it made no difference.

Adam gulped as he stared at the Grand Barrier.

Gradually, he began to realize the difficulty of his final trial.