Endless Evolution: Last Star

Chapter 2073: Bad news for the stars (Part 1)

Adam wasn’t surprised to see Fromund at Radiant Branch. To some extent, he had expected him to show up, since he did not doubt that it would happen sooner or later.

But now he was glad he had appeared, because it gave him and Silvana a little time to think over what they had heard.

They had only one question left:

Should they tell Fromund and Arayna what they’d heard, or should they think it over on their own first?

Joarxa had let slip just a few words, but that was enough to frighten and shock the young Phantoms.

“Silvana, we heard that right, didn’t we?”

In response, she bit her lip, moving alongside him toward the entrance.

“I’m afraid so.”

It seemed as though Joarxa hadn’t said anything out of the ordinary, but her last words offered one important hint, the emergence of new Second Rank Phantoms was not an extremely rare event in history.

Sure, Second Rank Phantoms were far fewer in number than the Lords. There were far more monsters than Phantoms, and the number of trials a person had to pass to become a Second Rank Phantom was far greater than that required of a monster.

However, before meeting Joarxa, Adam, Silvana, and many others had believed that a new Second Rank Phantom was vitally necessary for humanity.

For some reason, there hadn’t been a new Second Rank Phantom in a very long time, perhaps even more than 250 or even 500 years.

Everyone Adam encountered spoke of his possible evolution to the Second Circle as an event that was bound to change the world and the balance of power among all the lands.

However… Was that really the case?

Clutch.

Adam squeezed Silvana’s hand tighter.

“We have to tell them. Maybe Fromund or Arayna know more about this than we do. If not, they’ll definitely be able to accept it and think it through with us.”

Silvana glanced at Adam. Fromund and Arayna had already spotted them and started waving in greeting.

“Do you think it’s a good idea to do this here? I mean, there’s still about an hour until the official start. We have time, but there are quite a few people around.”

Adam paused for a moment before shaking his head.

“They realized what had happened, which is why they were trying to distract Joarx. We have to trust Fromund and not waste any time.”

Silvana nodded. There was no doubt in her eyes about Adam’s decision.

Step. Step. Step.

And so, they made their way over to Fromund and Arayna, greeting their old friends.

Adam had seen Fromund not long ago when they set out on a mission to find the Twilight Crystals, but he had last seen Arayna at the Moon Colosseum.

“Hi! You’re already here. I didn’t expect you to arrive so early.” Fromund smiled brightly.

Arayna nodded slightly.

“We were worried we’d miss something interesting if we arrived right at the start, so we decided to hurry.”

She nodded to Adam and turned to Silvana with a slight smile on her face.

“It’s good to see you, Silvana. You’ve changed a lot, for the better.”

Silvana blushed for a moment before responding with a smile of her own.

“You too, Arayna.”

Silvana wasn’t lying. Arayna, just like Silvana, had changed, both internally and externally.

During The Rule of Power, when Adam was fighting Fromund, Arayna had long, light-colored hair that fell below her shoulders. Now she had relatively short, light-colored hair framing her neat chin.

But her green eyes were brighter than ever. She looked strong, truly powerful – just like Silvana.

“I see… So she, too, has embraced her role to the fullest. I wonder, did she have to go through the same trial as I did, or did she follow a different path?”

Then, her eyes fell on their outfits.

Fromund’s outfit was fairly simple on the one hand, but it suited him well. He wore a loose-fitting black suit with three red lines running vertically down his torso. A wide strip of red fabric ran across his shoulder and down his back, giving him a sense of freedom and lightness.

Arayna, for her part, wore a form-fitting amber dress with several rows of artificial white roses arranged in three circles around her waist.

Fromund looked practically the same as ever. However, the same was true of Adam. They both had blue eyes, while Adam had black hair and Fromund had thick crimson hair, reminiscent of dark blood.

Strange as it may seem, Fromund was the first to sense that something was wrong.

“Well, well…” Fromund muttered as his expression grew serious. “Even though we arrived an hour before the start, we’ve already missed something important, haven’t we?”

Arayna turned to him, confused, but judging by Adam and Silvana’s gloomy expressions, she understood everything.

“Yes.”

Adam confirmed it. Just as he’d told Silvana, he wasn’t going to hide anything from them.

“Do you know who Joarxa Pereit is?”

Fromund tilted his head, puzzled, but Arayna nodded.

“Sure, she’s the head of the Pereit Family. Did something happen between you two?”

“No, more like… Silvana, the others, and I overheard something we shouldn’t have. But it’s too late to change anything now.”

He turned as his gaze fell on one of the empty tables for guests. Most of the tables were reserved for the great families or the three factions, but at Radiant Branch there were also quite a few tables for neutral guests like Adam and Silvana.

“How about we discuss everything at that table?”

Fromund smiled and, without hesitation, stepped forward.

“Of course, why not? All the way here, I’ve been thinking about the appetizers the Alderran Family prepared. The first family can’t disappoint! Huh, at least I hope so.”

Soon, they were seated at the table as a waiter brought them drinks and a few appetizers, which Fromund immediately dug into, Adam had no appetite. It had vanished abruptly not long ago.

“So, what’s the matter?” Fromund asked, popping an olive into his mouth.

Adam tapped his fingers on the table, gathering his thoughts.

“I don’t even know how to put this, but in short, we have good reason to believe that before the World Wipe, most of the Stars will die.”