Endless Evolution: Last Star - Chapter 1016

Chapter 1016: Fifth Gate (Part 1)
After his victory over the first strongest monster, the Prime Stone Goliath, Adam would take something from the monsters he defeated to add to his collection – a trophy. This applied to some other important memories as well, but mostly monsters, because he was a Phantom.

He fought against monsters. That’s how he survived, and that’s how he became stronger.

Even though the Crimson Monarch was his greatest opponent up to that point, Adam couldn’t get anything out of him. The Crimson Monarch died without leaving anything behind except Moira.

Adam couldn’t put Moira in his storage, not because he didn’t want to, but because she didn’t have a physical body.

He didn’t think about it too much, considering that Moira was to the Crimson Monarch what Lone Blaze was to him.

On the interaction side, he wasn’t wrong, they helped each other, and shared energy and abilities, just like Phantom and the External Artifact.

However, there was a huge difference in their origins. Only now, when Arnoth explained it to him and he saw Lost Light – Arnoth’s External Artifact, did he realize that Moira and the Crimson Monarch were no common thing.

Moira wasn’t an External Artifact. In fact, she was going to die. Only the Crimson Monarch’s mastery of energy control, which amazed even Arnoth, helped Moira survive, if only as a shell with energy in its inner space.

Now, he recognized that Moira had been in danger all along. So far, her shell was strong enough, but as soon as Adam became stronger, Moira would die. Her mind and soul, which the Crimson Monarch preserved, would become mere energy for Adam’s evolution.

Nothing more.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

Adam’s coat shuddered, as it lost its form, turning into energy clots.

Somewhere deep inside his inner space, Moira huddled in the corner, clutching her knees tightly to herself. Her teeth clattered as her eyes twitched in wild fear.

“Hey…” Lone Blaze tried to walk over to help her.

Without the teamwork between Moira and Lone Blaze, Adam couldn’t use his Initial Gene. That was the price for giving her some of his Initial Gene.

“You need to calm down. That monster, Arnoth, is probably lying!” She tried to touch the frightened Moira.

Thump.

In a clumsy attempt, Moira roughly threw Lone Blaze off of herself.

“Don’t touch me! It’s… It’s true! Every time Adam got stronger I could feel how harder it was for me to breathe in this damn place!”

Tears rushed from her eyes, combining bitterness at the Crimson Monarch’s death and anger at him. He asked Adam to protect her, even though only he knew she was doomed to die.

“I thought I was just imagining things! That I’d just have to wait a little while and I’d get used to the pressure, but…. What’s the result? Now I find out that as soon as Adam gets stronger, I’m going to die?! FUCK!”

Lone Blaze gulped. She was smart enough to realize that Arnoth wasn’t lying.

It made her look at Moira with pity.

“Fuck, don’t you dare look at me like that! You’re in no danger, you stupid artifact!” Moira shouted. “Yes, I made a mistake! I almost died, and… now I have to go through this again? Why did you even bother saving me in the first place?!”

Lone Blaze had nothing to say.

Neither she, nor Adam, nor even the Evolution Tree could realize that Moira shouldn’t be alive to begin with.

The Crimson Monarch did a trick that no one could understand. Arnoth knew what the Crimson Monarch did, but it was obvious from his words that even he couldn’t do it again.

That meant only one thing – no one could save Moira.

To do so, Adam would need to have the same knowledge of energy that the Crimson Monarch had, but… that was impossible unless he became stronger.

If Adam became stronger, K4-Level, or even higher, his energy would kill Moira.

It was a vicious circle that neither Adam nor Moira had a way out of.

And no one could help them. Especially not now, in the middle of a battle against a powerful enemy.

Step.

Arnoth stopped, peering into Adam’s inner space again.

“I see. So you all only found out about this now. It makes me feel bad…”

Lost Light shook her head. “Don’t be. You couldn’t know what the Crimson Monarch did, and neither could they. But… We can offer everyone here eternal peace – just silence and quiet darkness.”

“Yes.” Arnoth clenched his fist tightly, golden energy running down his arm. “As long as you see the light, you must fight. It’s a reminder that you’re alive.”

Despite everything that had happened, Adam had not lost his will.

He used all his abilities, his Initial Gene was unavailable due to Moira’s crisis, his path couldn’t lead him to victory. But, that didn’t mean he had to stop.

“No matter what happens…”

Adam wheezed, slowly rising from the ground. Blood stains covered the ruined column.

“You’ll always be with me, until the end, right?”

Somewhere far away, but simultaneously close, Silvana smiled.

“Sure. I’ll take on your pain if I have to. I’ll give you all my energy. I’ll become a part of you.”

Step.

Adam stepped forward, the first needle struggling to appear in his right hand. His strength was only enough to do so.

The Evolution Tree was completely drained after Adam used the path. The only reason Adam was still conscious and could even continue fighting was because of Silvana’s energy from her Evolution Sprout.

She immediately channeled the energy to Adam as soon as she saw that Arnoth was still alive, even after what Adam had done.

“Oh, do you still want to fight?” Arnoth was genuinely amazed, his eyes wide open.

Lost Light smiled weakly. “Don’t forget. Just like you, he’s not alone. Even if he doesn’t have Moira… even if he doesn’t have his External Artifact. He always has his Operator.”

“Right…” Arnoth stammered. “In that case, I’ll show you my highest respect, Adam. For you and your Operator!”

At the same moment, streams of golden energy headed upward, turning into bright spots passing across the ceiling.

Soon, dozens of pillars of light would rain down on the throne room, destroying the castle as it had been for decades.