Endless Evolution: Last Star Chapter 1572 1572: Escape and Fog

During Adam's previous trip to the Dead Lands, the delay stretched out for many months.

Reasons justified it back then, yet none existed this time.

Vaarh lay slain.

In the snowy expanse, neither he nor Alexia faced any assaults following their feats, while fresh monsters wouldn't reach the Frost Ridge for quite some time.

Creatures lurking in the woods or far-off meadows cowered before the chilling presence radiating from the Frost Ridge. None would venture near these peaks in the near future.

"Agh..."

After the grueling fight, Adam breathed out frosty vapor while extending his limbs. Every part of him groaned like it might snap apart.

'I need to speak with Lone Blaze. No clue what went down, but she'd have been my end if Highest Bliss overwhelmed me without her help.'

'Still... returning comes first.'

Summons for the fighter jet proved impossible here, just as retracing their arrival path to the Citadel wasn't feasible.

The location of the spatial anomaly responsible for their arrival remained a mystery. In the best case, hours might pass; more realistically, days of waiting for it to resurface exactly there.

For now, their optimal choice involved locating a secure spot to recover their vigor and recuperate, enabling them to press forward and head back to the Citadel.

Crack.

Alexia pressed against the icy spire, attempting to rise, yet her efforts failed. She tumbled down onto the surface.

"SHIT!" Alexia pounded her fist against the earth. "It's only a fractured leg! Why can't I even manage to walk!?"

A bitter smile crossed Adam's lips.

'With damage like that, isn't it obvious? Silvana, got any suggestions for a rest spot? We must hold out until her fracture mends at minimum.'

Strangely, no response came his way.

"Silvana?"

Worry etched across Adam's features. Alexia shared the confusion, unaware of the issue.

All at once, a yell echoed inside Adam's mind:

'Adam! Above!'

He instantly tilted his gaze upward, confronting a heavens swarming with dark silhouettes.

Vaarh's invoked tempest had faded away, yet post his demise, peril lingered for the pair of Phantoms within the Primal Lands.

Over a dozen ice wyverns circled overhead, their wingspans projecting gloom across the frozen plains.

"W-What...?" Adam swallowed hard upon grasping the situation. "They bided their time until the fight concluded? Such sly fiends. These aren't true wyverns—they're vile scavengers!"

Adam's outburst changed nothing; the ice wyverns descended to claim their prime desire—vital energy from the duo of formidable Phantoms.

Moreover, Alexia fixed her gaze sharply on the lead ice wyvern plummeting toward them in a steep assault.

This creature she knew all too well.

"Bitch. That's the one! Damn it, Adam, we must take it down, or—!"

Yet her outcry bore no connection to their actual plight.

Exhaustion gripped both her and Adam, rendering battle impossible. As patient hunters, the ice wyverns timed their ambush flawlessly against the weary Phantoms.

The ice wyvern loomed right before Adam, its maw gaping wide. Mere moments away, it would all conclude.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

In that instant, an odd sight flickered into Adam's vision.

From thin air emerged a dense, potent gray mist, swiftly shaping into a massive fist within a heartbeat.

Crack!

The misty fist collided with the wyvern's mandible, wrenching its skull aside and dislodging a single tooth.

Ere the wyvern's stare could refocus, another fist materialized from the side, followed by a third descending from on high. Every blow landed with a brief interval, too rapid for even Adam to track fully.

Whoooooooosh.

Rather than a fourth fist rising from beneath, a figure clad in luxurious fur-lined winter garb now stood there. His leg whipped out in a blazing strike, smashing the wyvern's jaw and generating a sonic boom from its velocity.

The force hurled the massive beast skyward while the man's form blurred, repositioning beside Alexia as he hoisted her onto his back.

Green eyes, half-obscured by his sleek silver locks, locked onto Adam.

"Can you run?"

Adam gave a quiet nod.

The man surged ahead without pause, his velocity so immense that the frozen crag supporting Alexia fragmented into shards.

A blast of air rushed by Adam as he pivoted and strained to match the man's stride.

Despite the man forging the route ahead—plowing through heavy drifts, demolishing ice formations, and driving off beasts—Adam labored to follow. The distance to the man's form widened steadily, despite the added burden of Alexia!

"Adam, tap into the ancient energy! Your reserves ought to suffice for breaking free from these wyverns!"

Sage counsel indeed, which Adam heeded at once. His pace quickened, power surging through his limbs.

Uncertain of its duration, he pressed on until the wyverns' cries faded into the distance, their wing shadows ceasing to pursue.

Still, halting seemed unwise. He chased the man for as far as his endurance allowed.

Behind them lay the snowy expanse, the Frost Ridge, and the woodland too, which proved merely another hindrance along the way.

"GRRRRROOOOOHHHOOOO!!!"

The ice wyverns persisted in their pursuit, bellows echoing through the trees as wings darted between countless denuded limbs.

'Shit, shit, shit! When does this end!' Adam thought frantically while peering forward.

The man arrived at the precipice yet kept moving.

Alexia's extended limb and stunned expression were all Adam registered.

"Wait... Seriously? To where are we leaping!?"

Glancing back, the sight of the swarm of wyverns sufficed to shift his resolve.

"Shit!" Adam clenched his jaw and leaped in the man's wake.

He slammed onto the frosted incline, tumbling downward and battering aside foliage. A few jagged points scored his face, yet he halted shortly after.

"Agh...?"

Silence enveloped him for the first occasion, though that failed to hold his focus.

In the brush ahead, nestled at the hillside's base, stood a dwelling by a lake spilling into a thundering cascade.

This spot resembled a genuine sanctuary amid the brutal frozen wilderness.