Endless Evolution: Last Star Chapter 1653: Up or Down? (Part 2)

'Lone Blaze... she has truly changed,' Adam murmured, his eyes scanning the endless array of stone pillars ahead. 'Though it suits her well. She has transformed into someone more open and self-assured. This is her very first successful evolution.'

His current predicament was far from simple. He had no clear way of knowing how much time remained before the Blood of God began to ravage his inner space. His Nexus was useless until it had fully processed Queen Elisa’s blood, and he found himself stranded in an unknown and perilous domain.

Glancing around, Adam gave a curt nod. There was no logic in venturing further into the shadows between the columns. His only possible route to safety lay in following the faint light filtering from the surface down onto the nearest pillars.

Step. Step. Step.

With deliberate caution, Adam neared the edge, hoping to discern what lay at the depths, but the effort yielded nothing. The abyss only grew more impenetrable the deeper the cave rings descended.

'Tsk, what was I really expecting? A clear, paved road back home?'

His attention shifted upward, and a flicker of hope ignited within him.

Above lay another passage, a cave ring identical to the others, but devoid of any higher tiers—it was a direct exit. There were no guards, no magical barriers. Nothing stood in his way if he chose to leave immediately.

With no superior alternative, Adam composed himself and braced to leap toward the level above.

Whoooooooosh!

A gargantuan shadow streaked past him at blinding speed in that very heartbeat.

Adam recoiled instantly, feeling the entire structure tremor as the shadow passed. Despite the frantic pace, he managed to glimpse a serpentine creature—or something indistinguishable from a serpent.

Yet, it was not the beast alone that riveted his focus.

Several individuals were perched atop the massive monster, using it as a vessel. They were intense, their brows furrowed in concentration, eyes sealed shut in deep focus. Not one of them spared a glance for Adam.

'Are these beings truly the masters of this creature? They seem like they are preparing for something monumental. No, it is deeper than that. They have been priming themselves for this goal for an eternity, and now that the moment has arrived, they cannot afford a single error. They must be operating at their absolute limit.'

At the time, Adam paid little heed to the finer details, but the vibration generated by the serpent as it passed through hundreds of columns produced an eerie, bell-like melody. Anyone residing within these cave rings, or even beyond them, would surely have heard it.

Adam stood frozen for a few seconds, half-expecting another beast to emerge, but the silence remained unbroken.

'It seems that either something of grave importance is unfolding below, or this is a variant of the Ice Path in the Prima Lands. Though... it feels as if these cave rings are the path themselves.'

Naturally, part of him burned with curiosity to uncover what lay beneath, but he knew the risk far outweighed the potential gain. His priority was to ascend.

'Very well, let us discover what is waiting at the summit.'

Free of hesitation, Adam leaped, scaling the cave rings with fluid grace until he reached the top.

Shadows offered no traps, and no monsters lay in wait; there were only vacant columns. By now, Adam was certain that this abyss was not a death trap like the lair of the Vaarh.

'I cannot say if I will ever return to explore those depths, but those figures were powerful. Their auras were too composed for me to gauge their true level, but they were certainly far beyond any common purple-threat monster.'

With a decisive nod, he performed one final jump and emerged onto the surface.

A crunch beneath his feet drew his immediate attention.

He stared down at the gray sand—it was neither ash nor metallic dust, but its original hue. Tiny, shattered bone fragments peeked through the sand, the source of the crunching sound.

'Well, that hardly unnerves me,' Adam remarked with a smirk, turning to observe his surroundings.

His expression shifted instantly, his gaze locking into a stare.

For hundreds of kilometers in every direction, the landscape was a gray wasteland of vast dunes, studded with skeletal remains of colossal beasts and skeletons of dark, brittle trees.

A black sky, dominated by a moon reduced to a mere darkened disc as if caught in a permanent solar eclipse, hung over the land, casting a bleak and singular light.

Adam then looked toward the towering structures—colossal pillars stretching toward the heavens, fabricated from smooth, majestic white stone.

They varied only in their summits: some culminated in menacing, sharp spikes like defensive towers, while others were topped with serene, protective domes.

What caused a genuine chill to run through Adam was not the sand or the architecture, but the sheer scale of the landscape and the terrifying realization that he had no idea where he was.

'Wait... that is the sky,' Adam looked upward. There were no stars, no sun, only the eclipsed moon draped in a black shroud. 'I have never encountered such a sight anywhere...'

Had he stumbled into a specific territory or a hidden stronghold, he might not have been shocked. Such anomalies were common in smaller domains, but the sheer breadth of the place Xyrea had dropped him into was staggering.

One terrifying realization crystallized in his mind:

'This territory is so alien compared to everything I have known. It feels as if I have arrived in a entirely different...'

Tremble!

Before he could finish the thought, a ripple in the air caught his senses. From the distance, an peculiar entity drifted toward him.

It consisted of gray flesh covered in matching fur, shaped like a controlled cloud and trailing a faint, dark vapor. It lacked limbs or a mouth, possessing only a single, large amber eye that was now fixed unblinkingly upon him.

The monster made no move to attack; it watched the interloper with intense, studious curiosity.

Adam, however, felt no joy from this observation.

'Dammit...'

He understood then: if the creature wasn't attacking, it was because it was transmitting intel to entities that certainly would.

No matter how hard he tried, trouble always seemed to hunt him down.'