Endless Evolution: Last Star

Chapter 58  The Anomaly Center

Bam. Bam. Bam.

Adam, using the second grip, attacked Ice Chaser time after time, simply shattering the monster's armor into small pieces, turning it into frosty crumbs.

Ice Chaser tried to defend and counterattack, but Adam overwhelmed the monster with an endless series of attacks. Soon enough, part of the monster's body was no longer protected by armor, and then Adam was able to pierce the monster's heart, which was well below the waistline.

Then, Adam turned around, looking at the battlefield.

The road they were on was covered with ice crystals that had grown up and were frosty. Many were injured, for the crystals were sharp, and it was impossible to predict their appearance, only to react.

Mostly Harvesters were injured, but a few Phantoms also received minor damage - scratches and cuts, no fractures.

Zera was at the center of the battle from start to finish. She destroyed several Frost Archers and one Ice Chaser.

Dargo, due to his crushing power and great defense, was able to stand up to the two Ice Chasers. The other Phantoms helped him with firepower, and soon they defeated the most dangerous enemies. Hazel dealt with the majority of the Mechanical Gargoyles, they were perfect targets for her Nexus.

'Hmm... My needle couldn't get through particularly strong armor before, but now I have the ability to shatter the enemy's defenses. Honestly, despite the days I've spent in the virtual zone, I can feel exactly how much stronger I am now...' Adam inwardly muttered as he looked at his needle.

He realized that the virtual chamber was only a simulation, but he expected that this experience was better than nothing.

'Now I'm beginning to doubt that... One monster killed in the real world, with blood and pain of pure violence... gave me more insight than hundreds of simulated ones. I guess real experience can't be replaced, can it?' Adam smirked, before canceling the Order and stretching his shoulder.

Clap.

Dargo powerfully clapped his palms together, drawing attention to himself.

"Alright. After a short break, we'll head to the first anomaly center. Harvesters get to work. You don't have much time!"

People got to work, at this time Adam approached Zera.

"You made a mistake, and considering I'm the only one who noticed it, it doesn't usually happen, does it?" Adam asked with a serious expression.

He may not have been on many missions, but all of his missions were dangerous and even deadly. He had to learn fast if he wanted to survive.

Zera looked away.

"I'm sorry... It's because of you."

"Hmm?" Adam raised an eyebrow in confusion, since he hadn't said anything to Zera before, he certainly had no way of influencing her.

"It won't happen again, be sure of that." Zera said calmly, waved her hand, and walked past him.

Adam stood still, looking at the departing Zera when Hazel appeared beside him.

"This is your third mission, but you're already acting so mature, if I may say so. That explains the increased interest in you from Zera." Hazel sighed as he cast a reproachful glance at him.

"You didn't understand anything at all, did you?"

Adam just shook his head. If Hazel could answer his questions, all he could do was listen to her.

"Although, unlike Zera, I'm not a member of Crimson Path, as her longtime friend I completely understand her as well as the ideology of the Crimson Path. She was trying to impress you, but instead, you had to save her. I think you have a rough idea of how she feels now. I'd comfort her if I were you, she's such a cutie when she's upset." Hazel smirked.

"No."

Adam's curt reply took the smile off Hazel's face.

"Isn't this supposed to be a difficult mission? What about your mates? What about the Harvesters? I have less experience than you, but it was enough for me to see the stones turn people into shredded chunks of flesh once to try to save as many lives as possible."

"But..."

Adam waved his hand.

"What's more, no one forced Zera to do it, it was her personal whim, and she's fine now, but if it keeps happening again and again, one day it's going to cause a catastrophe."

Hazel remained speechless. She thought she could help Zera and bring her and Adam closer to each other, but in the end, she only made him angry - an option she hadn't even imagined.

... Nôv(el)B\\jnn

After a short rest, the Scarlet River Squad continued to move on to the anomalies, for now, they were only on the outer part.

Killing monsters one by one, they reached the first center, where among the ice crystals and frosty steam lay their first artifact.

"Broken Snowflake, Zero Rarity Level, not bad. Nothing spectacular, but as a resource for development it'll do fine, it's at least easy to collect." Dargo uttered, taking a special container and gloves to the Harvesters.

Adam watched Dargo's actions with curiosity, for this was the second artifact on his journey, and he had never seen what artifact gathering was supposed to look like before.

He picked up his artifact with his bare hands and had to absorb it, but since he was a Natural Phantom, his Evolution Tree and Initial Gene accepted the artifact.

The Broken Snowflake looked true to its name, a crystalline object with complex patterns shattered in random places as if someone had broken it.

In fact, if Adam wanted to, he could replace his artifact with the Broken Snowflake.

Sure, there was no way he would do that, because Broken Snowflake was a Zero Rarity Artifact, and it wasn't developed.

"Here we go..." Dargo muttered, carefully placing the artifact into the container and closing it. He must not touch the artifact with his skin, otherwise, the absorption process would start, which could lead to serious problems.

Then, Dargo handed the artifact to Harvester, and the ice crystals began to break down. The effect wasn't particularly strong, after all this was a cluster of anomalies, and there were dozens more ahead - especially the center one.

"Zera, we're going to head that way, right?" Dargo asked, looking ahead.

In the distance, a tall beam of light could be seen streaking up to the clouds. It was a highly compressed frost vapor, with cold wind currents coming from it, and the atmosphere in the entire cluster kept the temperature low.

"Sure. Let's take the main artifact, then we'll have a much easier and faster time gathering all the others. After all, we only have ten hours for this mission before night falls." Zera said seriously, as an experienced Phantom had already recovered from her mistake.

...

Three hours later, after walking for about a kilometer and leaving behind hundreds of monster corpses, the Scarlet River Squad reached the center of the main anomaly as well as its artifact.

"Damn... I figured it would be like this, but we got lucky anyway." Dargo muttered while looking at the Second Rarity Level Artifact.

Everyone was gazing admiringly at such a rarity, feeling elated after a hard series of battles.

Strangely enough, Adam was not one of them. He turned around from time to time, looking at the corpses of the Ice Chasers and Frost Archers. 'Weren't there too few monsters...? No, more importantly. Where's the final one?' Adam pondered, feeling that something was missing, some very important detail.

At the same moment, Dargo touched the artifact, about to load it into the container.

Then, a bright flash blinded everyone, sending shivers down their spines.

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