Endless Evolution: Last Star

Chapter 1834: Only One World Is Real

For the past thirty minutes, the fire orbs had been raining down on Adam as he dodged or blocked them with his needle.

With great difficulty, Adam managed to destroy each one, matching his pace to Lakma’s.

Moreover, he felt that the more time passed, the slower Lakma became, and her attacks were no longer as aggressive as before.

“How much strength do you have left?” Adam narrowed his eyes as he stepped forward to block another fire orb.

Clash!

Sparks and fiery clumps flew past his face, but his blue eyes remained calm.

Adam had never had to resort to such tactics to defeat an opponent before, but he had no other choice.

“She wants to devour me. It’s her only way to preserve that inner space for a few more years, but… even if she does, she’s doomed.”

Slash!

Adam swung his needle, slicing through the fire orb as his body trembled.

He decided to end it quickly, because if he inflicted even one significant wound on Lakma, she would lose her energy reserve.

After all, what stood before him now wasn’t the real Lakma, but only her energy, and nothing more.

“W-Why…” Lakma muttered, pointing her rapier at him. “Why did you come… Why can’t you just leave me alone! I didn’t want to… I didn’t want to kill any of you…!”

With a bright flash, a fiery ray shot from the tip of the rapier, aiming straight at Adam. Under normal circumstances, this attack would have been enough to reduce even the strongest Black Threat Level monsters to ashes, but Adam was prepared for it.

Step.

He stepped forward, crossing the space to stand directly in front of Lakma. He saw fear in her eyes, fear and regret.

“Now, I see it…” Adam muttered with a grim look, his arm twitching.

The black blade sliced through Lakma’s shoulder.

“ARGH!” Lakma groaned in pain as energy flows gushed out like blood, shattering into fragments that soon vanished into the darkness.

“N-NO!” Lakma cried out, jumping back.

Adam stared at her, remaining where he was.

“The real Lakma wanted to survive so badly that her will allowed you to stay here, maybe that’s even what caused your mind to change, right?”

In response, Lakma merely frowned even more, pressing her hand against her wounded shoulder.

She was trying to hide the fact that she had just lost 10% of her power, but Adam saw everything clearly. Things like that couldn’t escape his notice.

“Why do you keep fighting?”

“What kind of stupid question is that…?!” Lakma shouted. “I want to live! She wanted to live!”

Adam nodded as a glint flashed across his eyes.

“Yes, but she’s dead. What’s your plan? As energy, you can’t get out of this crystal. By the next World Wipe, there’ll be nothing left of you. You’ll be, just… deleted.”

Lakma’s eyes widened as a shiver ran through her body.

“No! No…! I’ll find a way out! I’ll figure something out! Lakma still has a chance!”

Sadness filled Adam’s gaze as he slowly stepped forward.

He looked at Lakma not as malevolent energy, but rather as a child who had lost a parent too soon and was left alone in this cruel world.

Moreover… this child was doomed to a quiet, lonely death as well.

Step.

Adam took another step, forcing Lakma to assume a fighting stance, but he didn’t go any further. He turned to look at the Glass Root in the distance.

After a moment, something in Adam’s gaze changed as he made a decision that was unexpected even to himself.

Still, he said nothing as he continued walking toward Lakma.

“No… Don’t come near me!” Lakma’s voice trembled as she thrust her rapier forward.

Adam’s face showed no emotion.

He kept walking, and even when Lakma’s rapier flared with red flame, he didn’t stop.

“Get away from me!!!” Lakma screamed, thrusting her rapier into Adam’s shoulder.

However, he didn’t flinch and simply let the blade pierce him.

Lakma’s eyes widened as Adam took another step forward, even though her rapier was still deeply embedded in his shoulder.

“You know, this hurts, it hurts a lot.” Adam stopped in front of her. “But right now, we’re in your inner space. You and I… We’re both made up of nothing but energy, and our physical bodies are in the real world.”

“Y-You… What… What are you doing…?” Lakma’s voice trembled. She didn’t understand what Adam’s plan was, and that frightened her.

Strangely enough, in response, Adam smiled bitterly.

“Huh… You really are acting like a child. But, Lakma, you have nowhere to go back to, do you?”

She looked at him with a trembling gaze. “What… What are you talking about?”

Adam smiled kindly.

“When everything here is over, I’ll just go back to the real world, to my physical body. I’m Adam Vinter here and there, but you aren’t, are you?”

Lakma’s lips trembled. She was nervous. Even her grip on the rapier’s hilt had grown so weak that she could barely hold her weapon in her hand.

“You are Lakma’s energy. Your home is only this little world, and the real Lakma is now in the real world, but she’s dead, and… there’s no way for you two to become one again. You’ve been left in different worlds forever.”

Not knowing what to do, Lakma tried to step back. It was too much for her to take in.

However, it was at that very moment that Adam decided to act.

“Don’t go.”

He touched her shoulder, and before Lakma had time to realize it, Adam embraced her and held her tightly against him.

He would never have offered this to any opponent, but he couldn’t see her as an enemy. Not after he imagined that his own energy might end up in the same state.

“You don’t want to vanish just like Lakma, your master. I understand that, and that’s why I’m willing to offer you another way out.”

Tears welled up in Lakma’s wide-open eyes, streaming down her face and turning into sparkling crystals.

“W-What…? What do you want…?”

Adam smiled gently.

“Come with me. I’ll take you to the real world.”