Endless Evolution: Last Star

The depths of the fortress tried to hide themselves from outside presence in any way they could, whether it was a gate hidden behind a cave wall or a test that most could not pass.

Neither Adam, Silvana, nor even Lone Blaze knew what crimson mist was capable of. Nothing had ever tried to attack Adam's inner space before, but it was no problem for him.

For other Phantoms, their Evolution Trees weren't strong enough to kick out crimson mist, but in Adam's case, his Evolution Tree didn't even have to do anything.

It was the First Wall that did all the work.

The dark vortex grew faster and faster, distorting the space around it. The First Wall wasn't able to display even one-thousandth of its power in the real world, but in the inner space, it had complete freedom of action.

To be more precise, it was unique to Adam. Most Phantoms, their desires, and future opponent were not strong enough for their First Walls to have a will of their own.

It was a double-edged sword, as for all the help and enhancements received from the First Wall, Adam would later have to risk his life to kill a worthy monster.

His opponent was waiting for him for a long time, deep beneath the fortress, but first, he had to pass through the serpent seal. Continue your adventure at My Virtual Library Empire

The crimson mist trembled, realizing that there was no more point in pursuing his greed. With a rush, the crimson mist tried to change its direction and escape from Adam's inner space, yet it was already too late.

Whooooooooooooosh.

The vortex quickly consumed the entire mist, every bit of it, without wasting too much time since the mist wasn't worth it.

After a few seconds of tense silence, the First Wall trembled slightly, it wanted to continue, to go beyond its limits.

But... the Evolution Tree wouldn't let that happen:

[Hey... Don't even think about doing that... You and the second one already changed too much... Sit quietly and wait... Adam is almost to the point you want him to be...]

The First Wall fell silent, but it was in no hurry to restore its center, shards from the broken surface continued to float amidst the darkness. It was trying to use its last chance.

[Now... get back to normal... or I'll make you do it... You know I can... even though it will cost me too much. None of us want that, do we?]

Strangely enough, the First Wall didn't argue.

With a slight shudder, the shards returned to the surface, filling the center.

At the last moment, something strange happened in one of the shards. A quick, elusive shadow swept sideways.

All the Evolution Tree had time to notice were two red eyes before nothing remained in the shard.

And... apparently, the shadow escaped from the First Wall as well.

[What the hell... What the hell was that just now...?]

Without giving in to panic, the Evolution Tree concentrated releasing waves of energy all around. It tried to find if a shadow was trying to get out of Adam's inner space.

After a brief period, the Evolution Tree muttered in a low voice:

[Hmm... How strange... Maybe the First Wall decided to mess with me? Anyway... everything that should be in the Two Walls stayed inside them...]

The Evolution Tree wasn't wrong, it could easily spot any changes in the inner space, in this the Evolution Tree was much better than Adam.

But... the Evolution Tree had no way of knowing what was happening inside the Two Walls.

...

"Agh..."

With a deep sigh, Adam opened his eyes. The wound on his hand was already gone, and there was no trace of the black spikes.

That meant that several minutes passed since the crimson mist appeared, but Adam didn't know exactly how long he remained standing there while the First Wall absorbed the mist.

Then, before he could regain consciousness, two familiar voices sounded in his head:

[Adam, are you alright?]

'Adam, are you alright?'

For a moment, Adam thought he was imagining it, but soon he realized that Silvana and Lona Blaze asked the same thing at the same moment.

"Yeah, though... I'm not sure... I feel weird."

Adam clenched his fist, he didn't feel stronger or weaker, but for some reason, he felt like he was now capable of more.

Whooooooooooooosh.

The dark blood flames illuminated his face, drawing his attention to the seal.

The fiery line traveled rapidly along the border, spinning in the trajectory of a serpent, gradually narrowing and approaching the center in an endless loop.

As the line reached the center, the bright blaze flared to full power, yet though Adam was quite close he was not hot. However, he felt the energy within him become more active, urging him to fight.

"How strange. I can't say it feels like aggression, but..."

Clutch.

Adam clenched his fists tightly, his gaze deepening.

"I'm afraid that if someone wants to fight me, I won't be able to resist such a gift."

At that moment, Silvana's eyes went wide, she had a guess as to what the second effect of the irregular energy depths might be.

Usually, there were two effects, but variations with one or even three effects were also present, but they were much rarer.

Silvana was in no hurry, she needed more information to not mislead Adam.

If he was injured through her fault, it would take Silvana a long time to recover from it.

Soon, the bright fire faded as well as the serpent's eyes.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

The seal shuddered vigorously, rippling to high levels, along the great stair, the long passageway, and even the twisting caverns, stopping only at the maze level.

Adam did not move, staring intently ahead.

Slowly, the seal lifted, he passed the test so that the secret passage was opened revealing what awaited him behind.

Adam's serious eyes reflected the multitude of toothy jaws that seemed to have gathered there for him.

Then, before the massive seal could fully rise, a dozen shadows pounced on Adam, eager to taste his blood.