Endless Evolution: Last Star

"It's him, right?" The young lady with long crimson hair asked, staring intently at the Phantom, who was fighting against the Six-Winged Iron Stingray.

Her eyes were cold, she possessed sharp facial features exuding seriousness and elegance.

"Yeah... It's definitely him." A man with mussed black hair and pale skin smirked. Unlike the girl who stood atop the ruins, looking out over Salt Village, he was relaxed, leaning against the wall nearby, only occasionally casting a glance at Adam.

He had a dark sleep mask that he decided to lift, looking up at his leader.

"Hey, Tirana, you know we don't have to kill him, right? I understand that you want to avenge your sister, but..."

Whoooooosh.

Before he could finish, Tirana's right foot, like a blade, headed towards him, but... the man didn't even bother to dodge.

He just looked up, at Tirana's foot thrust into the wall directly above his head.

"As always, unable to contain your emotions. I guess that'll never get better." The man shrugged nonchalantly, he had clearly gotten used to such antics.

"Tsk. Olax, this isn't about my emotions. That bastard killed my sister!" Tirana spoke out through gritted teeth and clenched her fists tightly.

Olax glared at her.

"You and I both saw that battle filmed with her NEP, Mirna is responsible for her loss herself."

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Tirana frowned but didn't bother to reply to anything. Yeah, Tirana was Mirna's blood sister, it wasn't surprising considering they looked pretty much alike, and oddly enough, they had both become Phantoms.

Was it luck, or was there a special reason present...?

Tirana turned around, looking at the several K1-Phantoms on the first floor of the ruins. They were all part of the squad and had only come here for one purpose - to capture Adam.

"Anyway, I'll complete our mission and won't kill him, but don't you dare stop me when I break his bones. No one said anything about that, did they?" Tirana asked calmly, as if she were talking about something casual.

Olax waved his hand, returning the sleep mask to its place.

"Do as you see fit. After all, you're the one in charge here."

Tirana nodded deeply, clenching her forearms tightly. She wanted to tear Adam apart, but her restraint was enough to wait for the right moment and accomplish the mission.

Their plan was simple but quite effective - just attack Adam after his battle against Iron Stingray.

They were confident that Adam would win, just as they were sure that he would expend massive amounts of energy and effort to do so. For practically ten Phantoms, he would be an easy target.

Sure, Tirana, Olax, and the others, taking advantage of the numerical superiority, could defeat Adam at any moment, but their goal was to capture him alive, not to kill him - that was much harder to do, so they didn't want to risk it.

...

"WOOOOORAAAAGH!!!" Iron Stingray wailed painfully, losing one of its six wings. Streams of scarlet blood rushed outward, flooding the ground covered in a thick layer of salt.

"Great, but... Apparently, that's not enough, is it?" Adam muttered, glaring at his opponent.

If Iron Stingray only had two wings like some bird, losing one wing would inevitably cause him to fall to the ground, but Iron Stingray still had five wings.

Coming to his senses, Iron Stingray realized that Adam was indeed a dangerous opponent against whom a few lightning bolts were not enough to win. Carelessness could lead to death, anyone, be it a monster or human.

Flashes of light traveled across Iron Stingray's entire body, heading towards his jaw, where high-powered electrical discharges began to accumulate, forming a sphere.

"Oh, from the looks of it, this is going to be something serious. Well, let's see what the boasted firepower of the Essence Type can do!" Adam exclaimed with a serious expression before using the lightning step.

Soon, Iron Stingray's attack reached its power before launching straight at Adam like a death ray from a cold star.

A blue ray of hundreds of lightning bolts shattered all the stone peaks in its path, taking a second to reach Adam.

Adam's pupils narrowed as his body instinctively jerked to the left, running at full speed across the rugged salt surface.

Large salt crystals shattered beneath his feet as the huge lightning ray reached the ground.

Adam wanted to turn around to see the results of the destruction, but as soon as he did, a chill ran down his spine.

The lightning ray was chasing him, for Iron Stingray had enough energy to keep up this attack for a time!

'Holy shit! It'll turn me into coals if I get caught!' Adam inwardly exclaimed, realizing that he had to run.

Because of the distance between them, Iron Stingray only needed to move slightly for the ray to travel dozens of meters on the ground.

Even racing at the limit of his abilities, Adam was running out of time. Every fraction of a second, the lightning ray shortened the distance, inevitably closing in on him.

Ahead, Adam could see several salt rocks, large enough to hide behind, but... that was clearly impossible in his situation.

'Tsk. Even if it was Phantom's ability, there's no way to defend against that ray. I just need to wait for that bastard to run out of energy. I need to break the distance somehow!'

The lightning ray was already so close that the salt crystals flying from the ground hit him in the back. It didn't damage him, but it was an indication that the death ray was close.

Then, Adam realized that he could use the rocks in front of him, not to hide behind them, but to get closer to them!

Whoooooooosh.

Without hesitation, Adam threw the needle forward, which easily pierced the rock and stuck into the ground.

"Fine, I hope you're sturdy enough!" Adam gritted his teeth, pulling at the connecting thread with all his might.

His plan worked - he was able to pull himself to the rock as if using a hook, quickly moving away from the ray that a moment later burned through the spot where he had just been.

Bam.

Adam sliced into the rock, jumped on it, and bounced away as far as he could, realizing that Iron Stingray's energy was running out.

The lightning ray reached the rock, burning through it like a laser, but failing to reach Adam, it stopped. The ray quickly became thin and weak, and the energy flow was unstable until it shut down completely.

Iron Stingray tried to launch the ray again, but only electrical sparks appeared at its jaw, unable to become anything more.

The monster needed some time to regenerate its energy, even Essence Type had a limit to it.

Adam looked around, staring intently at the dark trail left by the lightning ray - it was completely black, the ray had burned everything in its path, and the same thing would happen to Adam.

"Damn, Elemental Root is a good way to increase defense, but against something like this, it wouldn't help me. Anyway, it's my turn now. You're not capable of anything right now, are you?"

Adam was spinning his needle, about to cut off Iron Stingray some more wings. He realized that once Iron Stingray - a creature without legs and arms, would be on the ground, the outcome of their fight would be predetermined.