Endless Evolution: Last Star Chapter 1923: Path to the Darkness

~4 minute read · 1,069 words
Previously on Endless Evolution: Last Star...
Adam was captured by Midgar, a Viscount of the Befallen Crown, but was unexpectedly freed by Kalyso. Kalyso held Midgar off, allowing Adam to escape and pursue a mysterious objective indicated by the Vibrating Stone. Adam fled towards the north, finding himself near rifts leading to the Dark Field.

As soon as Adam entered the Light Field, he saw the rifts filled to the brim with water. Later, he learned from Ergander that these were passages to the Dark Field, a place even an Ascended Lord like him was wary of venturing into.

Sure, Adam was curious to see what was happening in the Dark Field. It might have been one of the most dangerous places in the entire world. Only monsters approaching the True Lord Level could venture there without fear.

For someone like Adam, who was still at the First Circle, venturing into the Dark Field was a tremendous danger.

"Wait... Seriously? Do I really have to do this?" Adam stared at the plain in disbelief.

"No, this can’t be. If I go to the Dark Field, everything will depend solely on my luck..."

Adam clenched his fists. He knew he had little time to make a decision.

"Considering what Ergander said, it’s quite possible that nothing will happen to me in the Dark Fields, but that’s in the best-case scenario. There’s just as much of a chance that I’ll run into a monster that will kill me before I even realize it."

He could fight a Lord like Kalyso for a while. But if Adam’s opponent were a monster stronger than Ergander, it would all be over for him in the first second. He understood this, just as he understood his situation.

"But what if I’m wrong?" Adam frowned as he closed his eyes.

He sensed that the place he was looking for was somewhere here. Moreover, the name of his last condition suggested that he should head to the Dark Field.

’Bottomless Void, is that it? There’s only one way I can find out if I’m right or not.’

Adam focused as energy waves emanated from him, creating a radar similar to the one he’d used at the Gray Sea and in front of the Vibrating Stone.

For some reason, Adam sensed nothing. It was as if the Bottomless Void had never existed.

"What? How is that possible?" Adam was confused. "Before, I sensed the general direction. At the Vibrating Stone, I found the exact location! What on earth is going on here?!"

However, when Adam opened his eyes, his expression froze.

Instead of the plain, he saw only an abyss, vast and deep. It didn’t try to pull him in or scare him away. No, it was simply there, as if waiting for him to finally decide to come here.

Blink.

As soon as Adam blinked, everything returned to normal. He was once again looking at the rocky plain and the few rifts that were his only path to the Dark Field.

"What the... What the hell was that?" Adam gulped.

For some reason, he felt truly terrified. He had never encountered anything like this while fulfilling the conditions for the Grand Star.

What’s more, it only took a few moments of gazing into the abyss for his heart to start racing.

Still, Adam had no intention of running away, but he didn’t want to descend into the Dark Field either.

Tremble!

At that very moment, a rumble echoed from the distance, causing Adam to turn around.

The pillar of gray energy rose high into the sky along with particles of golden light that were powerless to resist the gray flows.

A ripple spread through space as a speck appeared in the distance, moving rapidly toward Adam.

It was Midgar.

He had several scratches on his shoulder and face, but his gaze remained piercing and self-assured. Kalyso had only managed to hold him off for this long, and very soon Midgar would reach Adam.

"Adam." The Silver Weaver’s voice echoed in his head. "You must make a decision right now. It won’t be ten seconds before he reaches you, and you won’t be able to escape. You must understand this."

In fact, Adam had already decided what he had to do. He saw no other choice.

"I know. The Bottomless Void is called that for a reason, right? I doubt I’ll like what awaits me in this abyss, but I simply have no other choice."

Ripple!

Gusts of wind swept toward Adam, ruffling the black tips of his hair and his coat. At the same time, Midgar made a powerful leap forward, intent on capturing Adam right here and now. He couldn’t let anyone else get in his way.

"You won’t get away, Adam Vinter! You’d better surrender and stop resisting!" Midgar exclaimed. "No one will help you now, and you’re nothing against me!"

It was unclear whether Adam could hear him at that moment from such a distance, but even if he couldn’t, Adam understood what Midgar wanted.

"Everyone strives to become stronger, and everyone has their own ways of doing so, right?" Adam muttered, looking at the rifts below him. "Agh... Befallen Crown, right now you scare me less than this water."

Midgar was getting closer and closer as he reached out his hand, preparing to grab Adam, who had been hovering over the rocky plain for some time.

He could see that there were several rifts on the plain, but Midgar would never have thought that Adam would dare to descend into the Dark Field. For him, it was certain death, no, for both of them.

The chances of a Viscount like Midgar perishing in the Dark Field were the same as those for a Baron or a K4-Phantom. They were all too weak to survive there. Everyone who had ever been to the Grand Abyss knew this.

Tap.

Suddenly, Midgar’s eyes widened in disbelief.

"Agh... What is he doing?" He gasped as he watched Adam begin to fall.

It was slow at first, but Adam’s descent grew faster and faster as Midgar realized, too late, that Adam was heading straight for the rifts.

"No... He wants to enter the Dark Field?" Midgar muttered, caught off guard. "That... That can’t be!"

It would have taken him only a few seconds to reach Adam, but... it was already too late.

Splash!

A surge of water gushed from the rift as soon as the tremors on the surface subsided.

Adam passed through the rift, heading toward the Dark Field, to his final resting place.