Endless Evolution: Last Star

Adam reached his limit. He used almost everything in this fight except for one mysterious exception. More than once, he discovered what his abilities were capable of during a fight or after a hard defeat at the hands of Damien.

Perhaps it was the pain, maybe enough time had passed for Evolution Tree to get used to its new powers, or possibly Evolution Tree didn't want to overload Adam's mind and sent information to him as it was necessary.

Well, none of that mattered now since Adam was already past all those stages.

All he had left was his last attack, which was definitely the most powerful one he had ever made. His new needle itself was much deadlier than his previous First Order, but... when it filled with energy Adam could unleash an unusually powerful attack.

Whoooooooosh.

Doing his best to bear the weight of his own attack, from the position of his arms to his stance, Adam lunged forward.

Normally he would either move in leaps, trying to mimic the movements of shadows, or run in a straight line, most often when using his artifact's ability.

But... now something else was happening to him.

He felt as if his forward thrust needle was creating a path of energy for him to glide along.

His feet were moving, but Adam felt no tension or recoil from the surface, only lightness and sublimity.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

The ripples ran through the air, while wind currents tossed aside small stones, clearing the way for Adam to pass through any obstacles.

It hardly made any sense, though, since his main obstacle was in no hurry to run away.

Damien stood confidently in his place, carefully assessing Adam's actions and his attack.

In fact, everything was happening truly fast, for an ordinary human Adam's speed in this attack was comparable to a snow-white flash that burst from one point and almost instantly reached another.

But, Damien was no ordinary human... so he could clearly see all of Adam's movements and energy surges.

"Alright, I think I can handle that." Damien grinned as he swung his rod and channeled the energy to its tip.

In a heartbeat, he repeated the same technique he'd used to cut the sound wave. Damien's goal was simple - he would clash with Adam's needle, shatter it with his dense energy, and end their fight with a precise strike into Adam's chest.

Blink.

Silvana blinked, and the next thing she saw was the needle tip colliding with the rod. A white flash crashed into a black one, it seemed like a long confrontation between the two forces was bound to happen.

But... sometimes the difference was too great to waste even one second on a battle.

Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.

Without difficulty, the needle broke the rod into small shards, moving straight towards Damien. The energy from the rod burst outward, flying to shreds before the snow-white energy stream from Adam's needle.

Damien's eyes went wide, and his pupils narrowed. He had no time to dodge or defend himself in any way. Moreover, he was now at K2-Level and it was simply impossible for him to increase his power level in such a short amount of time.

Then, a bitter smile appeared on Damien's face.

He nodded slightly and barely audibly muttered: "Good job."

The next thing Adam and everyone else saw was Damien opening his palm right in front of the needle tip.

Whooooooooooooosh.

The needle was already embedded in his palm, piercing the top layer of skin and releasing several scarlet drops of blood, each looking like a precious gem.

At the same moment, powerful wind currents came out of Damien's palm, becoming an impenetrable barrier to his defenses that even Adam's needle was powerless against.

Adam's whole body resisted, his hands trembling like the needle, but soon the wind currents achieved their goal. They threw him aside, only a few meters, sending him into the center of the chamber, but that ended his mighty attack in which he put all his powers.

Rolling on the ground from the throw, Adam stopped, struggling to lift himself with the help of his arms.

He stared in amazement at Damien, blood dripping from his palm. Damien stared at his hand for a while before turning to Adam.

"Well, like I said, if you can bleed me with your attack then I'll start using abilities." Damien nodded contentedly.

He didn't actually use the ability because Adam fulfilled the condition, Damien didn't think about that then. He just realized that if he didn't block Adam's attack, the needle would destroy his arm without any resistance.

Adam blinked a few times as his eyes grew wide at the realization of one important thing that had come to him.

"Can this be considered another one of my local victories...?" Adam asked a little uncertainly.

Damien waved his hand.

"Sure. Why not."

Adam smirked.

Then, Damien realized what that meant.

"Wait... In that case, the score becomes 3:3..."

Damien muttered, slightly surprised that he had let that happen.

"Hahahahahahaha! Well, in that case we can say you didn't lose, it's more than honorable."

Adam shook his head.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"No, I disagree."

Damien tilted his head in confusion.

"Hmm, what are you talking about?"

Adam grinned contentedly.

"It's not me who didn't lose, it's you who didn't win."

Silence.

Dahla snorted, narrowing her eyes and staring intently at Adam as if her gaze were as sharp as daggers.

"What impertinence, to say such a thing to Mr. Damien, after what happened."

Douglas sighed quite happily, nodding his head a few times, it seemed that unlike Dahla he was pleased with Adam's brash answer.

"Hahaha!" Damien laughed, he wasn't angered by Adam's answer, on the contrary, it only piqued his interest.

"What arrogance, as active as the flame in your eyes! Keep it that way! You can't get better than others if you don't believe in your own powers!"

Adam nodded slightly before collapsing to the floor.

He hadn't passed out or anything, he was just tired and wanted to rest.

The chamber was ruined in many places, cracks, rifts, and scratches covered everything, but... in the center, there was enough room for one person to lean his back against the ground and take a deep breath.

Adam spread his legs and arms apart like a star, looking up at the ceiling with a wistful gaze.

Step. Step. Step.

Soon footsteps were heard, not only from Damien but also from Dahla who already entered the chamber.

"Dahla, would you be so kind as to heal us? I don't want Adam to fall asleep, I have more to tell him about his new abilities. After all, he just became a K2-Phantom and hasn't fully adjusted yet." Damien said relaxedly, leaning against the debris not far from Adam.

Frowning slightly, Dahla nodded.

"As you wish, but I think young Phantoms should show more respect for someone of your status." Dahla said seriously, looking intently at Adam before creating an amber sphere.

Adam felt relieved at Dahla's ability, for that matter so did Damien. At the same time, Damien began to gradually regain his power level, but not too fast to avoid putting pressure on Silvana.

"Hey, Adam, when going to K2-Level, a lot of things happen, don't they?" Damien smirked.

Then, his face became more serious.

"But... Have you ever considered that the Vault is pretty damn useless?"

"What...?"