Endless Evolution: Last Star

"Damn it! That fucking Adam Vinter! Franz Balo and that bastard Gladius! How dare they ruin everything! I hate it!" Nirosh angrily exclaimed clenching his fists tightly and walking around the circle of the spacious room.

Expensive furniture was knocked over and destroyed, once they returned to their residence, then he was finally able to let out his anger that had been building up all through the wedding ceremony.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! All we have to do is exchange vows and rings! Then... we'd kiss!" Nirosh muttered visualizing this scene.

But... soon it was replaced by Osana's face full of disgust and hatred towards him. Nirosh would never forget that look, as if he wasn't her husband but a pathetic insect she didn't want to look at.

"Calm down." Zarot said in a low voice, he was sitting at the far side of the room.

Mariel stood next to him, frantically checking something on her phone.

"Found someone worthy?" Zarot asked, glaring at her.

Mariel bit her lip, her gaze nervous and unsure. They had left the Rouzet Family Palace over two hours ago and were busy searching for a decent opponent for Adam.

"Hard to say." Mariel began biting her nails, "You immediately sent applications to all the Branch Squads under your family's control, and many K2W0 Phantoms showed interest, but..." Mariel's eyes traveled down, to the message that every member of the Branch Squads working for the Marzo Family received, all of those Phantoms were K2W0.

Her pink eyes stared at Adam's photo, which was attached to the message.

"Once they see his photo or their Operators tell them who Adam Vinter is, then many refuse even though there's a reward!" Mariel didn't have to participate as she was from a different family and couldn't nominate a fighter. According to the rules, the fighter should be chosen by the Marzo Family, as they needed a fighter that would stand for Nirosh's interests like Adam protected Osana's will.

However, since it was a wedding and The Rule of Power involved her daughter, Mariel could do nothing but actively participate in the search and selection process.

Zarot nodded deeply, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"Well, that makes sense. No matter how great the reward, they realize that if they choose to fight in The Rule of Power, they are bound to win, the consequences of failure are not something they can withstand." Then, Zarot's eyes grew darker and his gaze filled with gloom.

"Moreover, they don't know if they can even leave the Moon Colosseum alive. That bastard, Kogen Noukx, he'll allow any outcome of the fight since the rules don't specify until what stage the fight can last." Nirosh stopped, turning to look at his father, his gaze was confused.

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

Zarot inhaled heavily, clutching himself by his nose bridge to loosen up.

"Meaning that the fight will continue until one of the fighters wins. Yeah, any fight with no draws lasts until that point, but in The Rule of Power it's like in the Dead Lands." His gaze flickered to Nirosh.

"It doesn't matter what the loser says or does, it only matters what the winner decides. A normal fight would stop if one of the participants admits defeat since the defeat of one means the victory of the other, but is that similar to a real fight that would happen in the Dead Lands?" Nirosh flinched at Zarot's voice, it was low and intimidating.

"Only the winner decides what victory is. The winner may end the fight when his opponent admits defeat, or he may not accept such a thing and kill a wounded foe." Step.

Then, Reinal stepped forward, he stood for a long time in the corner, sometimes helping with advice to Mariel. He was here for the same reason as his mother, it was The Rule of Power, was a common cause between the two families since it came from a wedding.

"It's pretty simple. Many refuse because they realize they can't defeat Adam and are afraid to die if they lose. Who knows what Adam will do?" Reinal spread his hands apart before continuing:

"If the fight were to take place in one of the arenas in our families' territories, we could stop the fight when we realized the outcome was certain. But... in the ninth wing... Kogen will enjoy watching even the most brutal and bloodthirsty scene." Nirosh gulped. He knew how scary Kogen was and how much power he wielded in the ninth wing.

"But, that's not the only problem, is it?" Reinal glanced at Zarot.

Zarot nodded deeply.

"We only want victory. We can't afford anything else. And, among those who are willing to fight against Adam and pass on the terms... how many of them are actually capable of defeating him?" Mariel gripped her phone tightly, the glass around the edges cracking unable to withstand the force of her powerful grip.

"Your men are testing the candidates for power, but out of all those who came only a few show any results." Zarot said nothing, he only occasionally tapped his fingers on his cheek, pondering with his eyes closed.

"Unfortunately, it's worth recognizing that truly strong Phantoms either don't make it into Branch Squads or don't stay in them for long. Hmmm... Mariel, I recall that one strong Phantom recently left one of your most productive Branch Squads, right?" Mariel's eyes went wide for a moment afterward, then she turned and nodded deeply.

"Yes, but he only came in for a couple of dangerous missions because he needed large amounts of money urgently for something. He was great at his job, he was the best in his squad and... very arrogant." Mariel sighed heavily, shaking her head.

"He didn't want to be with the other Phantoms from Branch Squads and only did it because the situation forced him to. He considered them second-class Phantoms since they chose to work for the nobles." "Hahahahahahaha!" Zarot laughed loudly with a wide grin.

The others threw strange gazes at him.
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"We higher nobles only recruit the best into Branch Squads. If he thinks that way then he must be the best of the best and he would be a worthy opponent to Adam Vinter, wouldn't he?" Mariel nodded uncertainly.

"You're probably right, but I'm not sure about him and this whole thing. We have very limited time and I don't think we can convince him." Zarot waved his hand, soon a devious smirk forming on his face.

"Don't worry, we're not abandoning the original plan, our people will continue to select candidates. What about this Phantom..." Zarot chuckled evilly, "I'm sure we'll find a way to motivate him, at least there will be one way."