Endless Evolution: Last Star

Nothing could be heard but the wind currents brushing the salt crystals and the shattering core of the Thunder Demon.

The core of Essence Monsters was more important than organs, brain, or heart, for it became part of the monster by binding with its energy. No core, no energy, no life.

That was why, every time the pale blue pieces fell to the ground, Thunder Demon's eyes would lose their light. In fact, Thunder Demon had already died, otherwise, he would have killed Adam in that long time, because their shoulders were pressed against each other.

And... each of them had something to lose, some had to lose an arm, and some a whole life.

"Agh... Good..." Prago smiled bitterly, looking at Adam with pride in his gaze, "I recognize him now. There's no shame in losing to someone like him at all..."

'Tsk. Where's your pride like K2-Phantom?' Adelia snorted, and after a brief pause, looking away, she said, 'However, I'm not at liberty to say anything. It was mind-numbing...'

Such was the reaction of most, but... there was someone left in the area who was not enraptured by Adam's triumph, that one had a different goal...

"What?" Prago turned, glancing at Tirana, who was stealthily heading towards Adam.

Her gaze was grave, and the cross around her neck was gradually engulfed in flames. It seemed it needed some time to reach full power before Tirana could use her most mighty attack and kill Adam.

'Hah, did she think I wouldn't notice her? How naive!' Prago inwardly exclaimed before lunging forward, about to stop Tirana.

Crackle.

But... no sooner did he take a few steps than his heart ached violently, and everything in front of his eyes went dark.

"Agh...? What's going on? Am I hurt?" Prago mumbled lost, examining his body. Strangely enough, other than the usual wounds, he didn't see anything new.

'Prago... Fuck, your neck.' Adelia muttered, looking at the purple stain on Prago's neck, right where a few scratches from Obsidian Armadillo's tongue remained.

Slowly, Prago touched his neck, then he turned around, staring intently at the already dead Obsidian Armadillo.

"You bastard... Why the fuck did you have poison...?" Prago muttered before collapsing, passing out.

At the same time, several Phantoms that were hiding behind the salt hills tried to stop Tirana. They felt they had to do at least that in return for Adam defeating Thunder Demon and thus saving them all.

However, Tirana had allies too, the dark Phantoms stopped the Phantoms before they could even get to Tirana.

So no one else could stop Tirana, her path was clear, and she still had about a hundred meters left to reach Adam. Considering her speed it wouldn't take long.

Oddly enough, out of everyone who could see what Tirana was doing, Adam was the only one who wasn't paying any attention to her.

Instead, he broke off a horn from Thunder Demon's head and smiled slightly.

"I'll take this for myself, for my collection, and as an everlasting memory of you." Adam muttered tightly, clutching the horn as if it were the ultimate reward.

Then, Adam took a step to the side, letting Thunder Demon fall.

Adam stared at his defeated opponent for a while. During their battle, Thunder Demon had lost his tail, one arm, and suffered dozens of serious wounds, but... Adam was no exception.

Thunder Demon's jaws were firmly clamped shut, preventing anyone from getting close to Adam's arm locked inside, even after his death, for this was his ultimate glory in their battle.

"Well..." Adam whispered while trickles of blood flowed from the corners of his mouth, and his calm gaze was on Thunder Demon.

"You took something from me, so... it's time to give something of equal value in return, isn't it?"

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

At that moment, the Thunder Demon's body trembled as it released all of its energy into a huge electric orb that seemed as powerful as a distant star.

It was Thunder Demon's Essence. Apparently, his Essence was the strongest among all the Essence Monsters of the Purple Threat Level.

Yeah, Thunder Demon was a Top-2, but... Top-1 wasn't an Essence Type. Among the Top-5, only Thunder Demon was Essence One.

Did Essence quality affect the final result when the artifact evolved? Yes, but, it was all individualized. Sometimes, the effect could be almost imperceptible, and sometimes, it could give great power.

"Oh, this is really beautiful... It looks much better than Essence of the Six-Winged Iron Stingray, and... how many of you..." Adam uttered while looking at the dozens of purple runes orbiting around Essence, like planets around their star.

By defeating an ordinary monster with Revolve, Phantom could gain 1 or 5 genes, depending on the variety and rarity of the monster.

If Phantom defeated a Prime Type, he would usually get 10 or more genes, but... It was the pure power of the monster that determined a lot, which was reflected in the ranking.

"Too bad I have so little time left... otherwise, I would have stood here for hours just admiring this magical view..." Adam muttered before holding out his hand, with his palm open.

Step. Step. Step.

By this time, Tirana was already getting close to Adam, and her amulet, her Nexus, was blazing with scarlet flames, ready to unleash its full power!

'Great, I made it in time!' Tirana inwardly exclaimed as her cross shone brightly.

All the fire headed towards her body, covering her with flame armor, powerful and majestic.

Tirana immediately received a significant boost to her speed and strength, albeit for a short time, but it would be enough for her to fight Thunder Demon while the armor was still on.

'No! Fuck!' Fred, with a hazy look watching the battle from afar, inwardly exclaimed. His eyes went wide as he tried to stand up and grab his bow, but...

"What...?" Fred wheezed, realizing that his body wasn't obeying him. His maximum was just to extend his arm, nothing more.

Whoooooooooooooosh.

Tirana jumped high up, raising waves of salt and holding the huge flaming sword firmly above her with both hands.

"Adam Vinter! You are done!!! I will avenge my sister and friend!" Tirana exclaimed furiously, about to bring the sword down on Adam.

Slowly, without any of the anxiety that everyone had, but not him, Adam turned his head, meeting Tirana's gaze.

Tirana got goosebumps with a wave of shivers all over her body, even though she was at the peak of her powers right now. She was in Resonance and was using her Second Nexus Trait. She could probably defeat even Alexia under these circumstances.

The reason was in Adam's eyes, in the way he looked at her, as if after all he had been through, she was nothing, just a blank spot.

The serenity in his gaze was both soothing and threatening.

Then, a white vortex appeared in front of Adam's palm, to which Essence and genes immediately headed, as if they had been waiting for this for a long time.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

Electric discharges seemed to come out of the ground, making it tremble.

The next thing the onlookers saw was a gigantic electrical explosion summoned from the heavens, with Adam at the epicenter.