Endless Evolution: Last Star

"Mhm... Isn't that dangerous?" Silvana asked uncertainly, knowing that as soon as Adam hit the First Wall the energy clots escaping from his body would fly outward.

Franz shrugged nonchalantly.
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"We're standing far enough away. If any energy clot can reach here, me or Rosalind will easily destroy it, so you have nothing to worry about. Just stay close to us and watch."

Silvana nodded slightly, glanced at Rosalind, and took a few steps towards her, getting almost right up close.

"But..." Franz continued, his eyes as bright as stars, "I don't think that's going to happen. I mean, no energy clots will come out of Adam."

Silvana tilted her head in confusion. She didn't understand what Franz was talking about, since it happened every time Adam hit the First Wall before. She saw it hundreds of times in the Gray Castle.

Franz reached his hand forward, opening his palm. From his perspective, because of the distance, Adam seemed small and effortlessly fit into his hand like a treasure.

"If he reaches 100%, meaning he breaks the top layer of the First Wall, there will be no energy surges. Sure, the last 0.7% seems like too much of a challenge, but... it's not just about the strength of the strike here."

Rosalind nodded deeply, looking forward with a straight back like an experienced military man.

"The Two Walls tailor their difficulty to Phantom, taking into account his history, strength, defeated opponents, abilities, and more. No one knows as much about Phantom as his Evolution Tree."

Folding her hands behind her back and taking a deep breath, Rosalind narrowed her eyes, staring intently at Adam who slowly closed his eyes immersing himself in the inner space.

"Sure, there are limits, but... the essence remains the same. The Phantom must strike so hard that it reflects everything he went through. Only then will Phantom destroy the First Wall, otherwise... he'll be stuck at 99.99% for a long time."

Silvana gulped.

'No... That shouldn't happen to Adam. I know that for many K2-Level is a difficult or even unpassable challenge, but... Adam will break the First Wall. To stop at 99.99%, just one step away from the next stage would be too bad.'

...

Adam opened his eyes looking at his Evolution Tree.

Adam clenched his fist tightly, going to attack the First Wall. The first few times he spent a lot of time preparing, but then he realized that it wasn't really necessary.

[Wait... There was no need to rush... Not this time...].

Suddenly, came a voice familiar to Adam that previously refused to speak to him when he was trying to get to the Two Walls.

Adam looked up staring at the Evolution Tree.

"Hmm? Decided to talk now? I'm going to hit with all my might, as always. 0.7% is a lot, but I think I can handle it this time."

With those words, Adam adopted a fighting stance, and the seal trembled, releasing one of the Two Walls.

The First Wall appeared in front of him, trembling slightly in anticipation of Adam's next attempt.

[You can do it this way... And... You can listen to me...] Adam frowned, he couldn't concentrate. The Evolution Tree's voice was distracting him as it pierced straight into his mind.

"Damn! Either shut up or tell me what you think I should do. I don't mind listening to you, but you never speak up when you need to!" Adam waved his hand irritably.

[Good... My advice will be pretty simple... since this isn't a battle or even the real world... This is a test created by the energy from your story... only for you...] Adam was silent for a while, his eyes running from side to side waiting for Evolution Tree to say anything else.

[To begin... Take a deep breath and dive into your memory... The strongest strike on your path... Pick it and... put all your strength to achieve the same... the strike...

it doesn't necessarily have to be yours...] The Evolution Tree fell silent, but no more help was needed from it. When Adam heard its last words.

"Hah... If I spend one try listening to you, nothing bad should happen, right?" Adam smiled bitterly before walking over to the First Wall.

If it wasn't for the Evolution Tree's interference, Adam would surely have made his first strike by now, and quite possibly it would be a failure.

"100%... Means I have to take the hardest hit in my history, well... considering I'm now K2-Phantom."

Adam muttered, touching the surface of the First Wall with his fingertips.

"But, I never really thought about it. The hardest strike in my history didn't necessarily have to come from me, did it?"

Then, Adam did as the Evolution Tree said.

"Agh..." Adam took a deep breath, sinking into the depths of his thoughts.

In the fragments of his memory, he selected all of his most difficult fights, against opponents that managed to give him a lot of trouble and a flurry of pain.

'Maybe pick Damien?' Adam thought, but immediately dismissed the idea, 'No, even though he was my strongest opponent, his attacks weren't deadly and he didn't fight with his fists, so it would be hard for me to repeat that.'

Though Adam recalled dozens of fights and monsters, he could find the answer rather quickly. It shone brightly in his memories like a bloody star in a dark sky.

'Yeah... You, your blow was fatal to me.' Adam inwardly muttered seeing in front of him Plague Reaper's fist covered in crimson energy.

A slight shiver ran through Adam's body. Time after time he remembered that punch, with a slight fear in his heart.

"Damn, I need to forget about this already, no... not forget. I need to go through this phase and put it in the past. The Plague Reaper is dead, I'll always remember him, but I shouldn't be afraid of him anymore."

Adam opened his eyes, which became deeper and darker like the depth of the ocean.

Then, he approached the First Wall and raised his fist to attack.

"It's not about ability, energy, or physical strength..." Adam muttered as the space around his fist began to shake. His inner space was answering his call.

"Back then, only one factor was enough to remain in my memory as the most powerful blow. His blow was supposed to kill me..."

Step.

Adam stepped forward as he tightly clenched his fist wanting to get rid of the fear of Plague Reaper's punch.

He was already much stronger, and even then, he was the one who ended up as the winner, not that he was alone. But... it didn't matter, as after death, nothing mattered anymore.

The space shook as a snow-white energy from his Evolution Tree appeared around his fist.

Adam's strike was fast, but everything happened slowly and leisurely, it was just as he remembered the Plague Reaper's attack.

"Oh... It's really different."

Adam whispered, the tips of his hair rippling in front of his deep eyes while the bright light from the energy reflected in them.

"All you had to do was find the strike that mattered on your history above all, and bid it farewell..."

Crackle.

Adam's fist slammed into the First Wall, releasing a blinding light like from an exploding star, filling the dark space with waves of calm energy.

In a heartbeat, cracks reached the edges of the First Wall, completely covering it as the First Wall began to shake vigorously, eager to shake off the unnecessary shards that did their job.