Endless Evolution: Last Star - Chapter 875

Chapter 875: First Lesser Gates (Part 2)

After a while, Silvana stood up, watching Lone Blaze again, surprise still on her face.

“I’m grateful to you.” Silvana repeated, her voice serious, “You acted rudely, but it led me to the Pain Transition. You became Adam’s companion, that day you proved your usefulness.”

Lone Blaze scratched the back of her head shyly. Not that she was used to praise, especially unexpected praise. Before Adam, she’d only had contact with monsters, none of whom could talk because they didn’t reach the Crimson Monarch’s level.

Then, Silvana approached her and also suddenly took her by the chin forcing her to look into her eyes.

“But… I won’t hide what you said back then… I still remember those words in my nightmares to this day.”

“Silvana, I didn’t mean-”

Before she could finish speaking, Silvana put a finger to her lips.

“Hush.” Silvana hissed, “I don’t know if this was part of the plan or not, but now Adam is mine, completely.”

Now it was Adam’s time to feel shy.

‘Wow…’ Adam muttered to himself, ‘Damn, Silvana can be pretty pushy about this sort of thing.’

He shrugged.

‘Well, not that I mind.’

Whoosh.

Suddenly, without Adam’s words, a purple star flew out of the Initial Gene. Moira appeared next to Lone Blaze.

With a bored look, and with her hands behind her head, Moira floated amidst the darkness.

“Hey, will you stop it? I’m tired of waiting for you and Silvana to open the first gates. The Lone Blaze story is over, isn’t it?” she raised an eyebrow.

Silvana turned looking at Moira, her eyes shining brightly as she approached Moira.

“I haven’t seen you yet, nice to meet you!”

“Me too… I suppose…”

Suddenly, Silvana jumped up, high enough to touch Moira.

Before Moira realized it, she found herself in Silvana’s tight embrace like a child.

Moira’s face instantly turned as red as a tomato.

“W-What… What… What are you doing?! Let me go!” Moira exclaimed waving her hands in all directions.

“No. You’re too cute! I just can’t!”

Shaking his head, Adam walked over to Silvana and with a deft move released Moira from her grip.

Silvana’s eyes went wide in disbelief.

“Agh…?”

A moment ago she had Moira in her hands, now she was clutching nothing but emptiness.

“Silvana…” Adam looked at her, his voice low, “I realize that everything here is new to you and you’re driven by curiosity, but you’ll have time for that.

“I understand that you now have the opportunity to be in my inner space… We’ve gotten a lot closer lately, in every sense. However, we have a more important task at hand.”

Adam pointed to the Crystal Gates. The first orb was actively shaking, yet without external influence, it could go on forever.

“Yeah… I’m sorry…” Silvana lowered her head sadly, “I don’t know what’s gotten into me myself. So much happened in one day, and… instead of settling down we ended up here.”

Step.

Adam stepped forward, turning into a shadow. Silvana blinked when Adam was facing her, with his hand extended towards her.

“You have nothing to apologize for. After all, this place is now your… no…” Adam looked around, “This is our home, you and I.”

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Silvana’s heart beat quickly, she was too embarrassed to give a long answer, so she just nodded biting her lip.

“Yeah… You’re right.”

In silence, Adam and Silvana headed towards the Crystal Gates. Moira and Lone Blaze looked back, baffled. They could go back to the Initial Gene or stay to watch. They grinned as they made their decision, gazing ahead.

Step. Step. Step.

Adam and Silvana approached the massive gate, stopping at its right side, where the five lesser gates began.

Together, they reached out their hands to touch the first orb, so eager for freedom.

The last time Adam did it roughly, he’d just smashed the zero orb with a powerful fist, but that wasn’t necessary now.

Or was it?

Whoosh.

In a powerful surge, a white stream of energy rushed along their arms, but it was not something pleasant, on the contrary, Adam and Silvana’s faces contorted in a flash of vivid pain.

It was especially hard for Silvana, she wasn’t used to pain, it was a sensation one couldn’t get used to, but Adam had a lot of experience.

Moreover, they didn’t know what they were supposed to do – this hadn’t happened last time.

“Argh!”

Silvana gasped and pain as her hand almost slipped off the orb, but Adam didn’t let that happen. He gripped Silvana’s hand tightly, his fingers clasping their hands together in a lock.

She looked up at him, unable to say anything because of the constant waves of pain, it seemed they would never end.

“I’m afraid you’re going to have to get used to it…” Adam uttered, his voice serious bordering on the stern.

The cracks gradually covered the first orb, growing larger with each passing second.

“This path is incredible, but sometimes you have to face not the most pleasant things… like pain… However, if you have someone to support you, it becomes ten times easier.”

As soon as Adam’s words were spoken Silvana felt an unusually strong relief. She didn’t know what to compare it to, but Adam’s words managed to calm her down.

The energy grew more and more as the pain grew stronger, but none of it bothered Silvana anymore.

She closed her eyes as she focused only on the warmth of Adam’s hand.

‘Calm down… It’s going to be okay… It’s only a little while left…’

Strangely enough, Silvana soon stopped hearing or feeling anything.

The only thing she could think of was that it was over.

‘Agh…? Have we already destroyed the first orb…?

Deep inside Silvana wanted Adam to touch her and tell her that everything was okay and she could open her eyes, but… it didn’t happen.

One minute, two, three… even after five minutes there was no change.

The pain didn’t increase, no sounds appeared and no one rushed to bring her out of that state.

Soon, Silvana realized that it couldn’t go on like this. She had to do something.

Thus, Silvana opened her eyes.

However, instead of Adam and the Crystal Gates, all she saw was a boundless nothingness.

“What… Where am I?”

Silvana turned around in an attempt to find Adam or at least Lone Blaze with Moira, but… she didn’t succeed.

Yet, something caught her attention.

The darkness in the center was not like the rest, it was not a simple void devoid of light, but a thick black smoke clustered around some massive object.

With slight uncertainty, Silvana headed forward. She didn’t know where she was or how she would get back, but she had no other choice.

“Alright…” she muttered, “Let’s see what’s hiding…”

Silvana touched the billowing smoke.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

An active shiver went through the entire facility when a bright flash appeared to her right.

A small box, open – inside was a perfect round orb, just like the one in the first lesser gates.

As soon as she held the orb in her hands, a layer of smoke shuddered, disappearing in a flash.

A light fell on her face, from a huge sphere the size of a building floating in the darkness.

There was a small depression in the sphere, like a keyhole. Oddly enough, the recess was round in shape, the same size as the orb in Silvana’s hands.

“So, is this a key?” Silvana examined the orb.

However, she had nothing to look at, the orb was round, with no damage or grooves, as if she held pure energy.

Determined, Silvana nodded deeply and walked over to the sphere.

She raised her hand and carefully placed the orb into the keyhole. The orb disappeared deep inside, returning only a bright light to the outside.

Silvana covered herself with her hand as the first sounds finally reached her ears.

Shards, one by one, fell into the void, revealing what lurked behind.

Soon, Silvana’s rich green eyes reflected a lone four-pointed star hovering in the darkness.

The star seemed to have been here for a long time, waiting for Silvana to finally get it. The star’s light wasn’t as bright as Silvana expected, yet something about it drew her in.

With a slight smile, Silvana raised her head, looking up at the calm star.

“How am I supposed to get you? You’re so high, but…” Silvana looked around returning her gaze to the star, “You’re my only way out of here. That’s for sure.”

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

As if hearing her call, the star shuddered, turning into a beam of light that disappeared into Silvana’s left eye.

At the same moment, the first orb exploded, but no clot of energy or anything resembling a star flew out.

However… in one place, a four-pointed star appeared, as if carved into the tough bark with a sharp dagger.

Even if Adam and Silvana had known about it, no one could see the mark.

The mark was on the Evolution Tree, but on the inside where neither of them had access, Adam was no exception.

The first bits of energy appeared amidst the darkness as a powerful stream came out of Adam who didn’t yet realize what had happened.

However, his body was quickly filling with a power so great and terrifying that Lone Blaze and Moira flinched and stepped back, fearing him with their instincts.