Endless Evolution: Last Star - Chapter 690

Chapter 690: The First Statue

As soon as Adam stepped out of the maze, the surroundings changed – instead of smooth walls of massive stone slabs and narrow passages, there were wide caves with no rules.

There were no more torches, not a single one, but they were replaced by bright purple crystals, which strangely enough worked even better than the dim torches.

The light from the crystals reflected in the walls, the glint running along the sharp edges showing Adam the possible paths.

However, there was no need for him to do so since he had the flame thread.

“Hmm… Though it’s not a maze, it feels like one.” Adam looked around, gazing at the dozens of paths leading in different directions.

Unlike the flat passages that could only move left or right, the caves had no such restrictions, they went up and down as well, at different angles, constantly wriggling like snakes.

It made Adam wonder if the path indicated by the flaming thread was the only one.

“The fortress is very large, but there was only one gate. Although… that purple sphere probably isn’t the only one here, right?”

Adam rubbed his chin thoughtfully, taking his time to come to a conclusion.

“Well, even if there was another way, I’d probably just hit the maze from the other side.”

Shrugging, Adam moved on to a part of the caverns where there were no more forks – just a single wide passage leading forward.

Massive stalactites hung from the ceiling, blocking the light rays from the bright crystals.

Strangely enough, in more than ten minutes of wandering through the caves, Adam hadn’t encountered a single monster. There were no strange Stone Mimics, nor anyone more common like the Shadow Walkers.

Yet, Adam couldn’t escape the feeling of perpetual tension that had been haunting him since he descended to the cave level.

‘Khm… It feels like someone is following me, but… I can’t figure out who or what it is.’

Step. Step. Step.

Hundreds of steps later, in the distance, came the sound of gurgling water, the muffled splashes of water crashing down from a great height.

Narrowing his eyes and running forward some more, Adam stopped abruptly, raising a cloud of dust.

Astonishment covered his face, revealing a view of two massive waterfalls flowing from their hollows at the top of the caves, on the left and right sides.

Most of the water went down through cracks or furrows, only to return to the top again after a long journey, but a small amount of water remained, forming a lake only a few centimeters high on the surface.

A few round platforms showed from under the water, like islands in a vast ocean, yet this was only a part of this place.

Three huge statues stood in front, one of them was leaning against the wall, becoming almost a part of it, while the other two were facing each other, creating a path to the center statue.

The statues had no faces, they were hidden by a helmet, hood, and tightly wrapped pieces of cloth. Their hands were held down as if they were gripping something, though there was nothing but cold air in their hands.

Then, Adam felt a heat in the area of his arm.

His eyes darted to the side.

“Agh…?”

The magma ring trembled slightly, and the flame furrows became more active, releasing light streams of flames outwards.

Their direction was not random, the flames were clearly pointing at the left statue, wanting to become its part.

“I see… The statues are unarmed, though it clearly should be in their hands, but… I only have one ring.”

Adam frowned, he realized that if he wanted to pass on he had to activate all three statues.

Silvana’s voice rang out:

‘I think you should start with the first statue. The External Artifact may tell you where to go next-‘

Before Silvana could finish her words Adam abruptly turned around, interrupting her.

‘Is something wrong…? Silvana asked uncertainly.

“Fuck.” Adam narrowed his eyes with a great frown, peering into the darkness, he thought he saw a running shadow but could never find confirmation.

Not wanting to waste any more time here, Adam snorted and turned around, heading towards the lake.

“I don’t know who’s following me, but it’s not that important. From the looks of it, I have quite a few more fights ahead of me.”

Step.

Stepping out of the water and standing on the large round platform in the center, Adam headed down one of the three paths approaching the left statue.

Realizing what needed to be done, Adam extended his hand forward, and the magma ring shook even harder.

Whooooooooooooosh.

In a heartbeat, the magma ring turned into a thick, hot black mass, it quickly left Adam’s hand, turning into a massive object.

Adam’s blue eyes reflected the same crimson spear that the Solitary Commander had, but much larger, exceeding the monster’s size by several times.

The Solitary Commander could hardly lift such a great weapon.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

Held in place by the dense streams of flame coming out of the hilt and sharp tip, the crimson spear slowly rose to its rightful place in the hooded statue’s hands.

The crimson spear was pointed upwards as if it wanted to pierce the heavens with its flames.

Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.

At the same moment, the statue’s arms cracked as its fingers came into motion tightly grasping the spear.

Adam flinched as he took a step back ready to fight. He saw enough in his path to expect that the statue might come to life and attack him. Moreover, he saw it once before in Fume Cathedral.

‘Those statues were quite different, but in a way, they fulfill the same purpose – they are guardians.’

The flames of the spear calmed down, traveling through the statue’s arms and heading down to its feet. A wide line of fire ran along the stone path, stopping at the round platform.

The streams of fire quickly turned into a bright amber light, splitting into hundreds of intricate runes that took up 1/3 of the platform.

‘Looks like you were right.’ Silvana took a deep breath, ‘You need two more weapons, two more seals like the magma ring.’

Tapping the table, Silvana puffed up her cheeks.

‘But… Where are you going to find them? You’ll most likely have to go back somehow and look for the other purple spheres, I think they’re in the northern and western parts.’

Adam did not bother to respond to her assumptions.

“Hmm… I’m not sure about the purple spheres, but I think I know where the second key is.”

‘What? What are you talking about?’ Silvana was confused.

Adam directed his gaze upwards, his eyes were calm, accepting the situation as it was.

Slowly, he raised his hand, pointing to a certain point.

“It’s simple, that’s my key…”

A large red eye with an elongated pupil stared intently at Adam, not wanting to lose sight of him for a moment.

Dense darkness covered the creature’s body, but thanks to the glare of the shadows the outlines of its huge body were visible, far surpassing the Dark Watchers.

The creature was not only large but muscular, possessing pure animal strength, as indicated by another detail.

The wide grin with drool dripping down was open in anticipation of a savage fight, the snow-white teeth unlike most monsters were not sharp, instead, they were blunt for crushing bones and grinding flesh into dust with powerful jaws that could crush even the fortress gates.

Adam shoved his hands into his pockets, throwing his head back with an arrogant gaze, somehow looking at the creature from top to bottom with eyes full of contempt.

“Don’t keep me waiting. After I deal with you, I still need to find a third one.”

In response, the creature only smirked harder as its eye filled with hot blood.