Endless Evolution: Last Star Chapter 1952: The Four Powers of the Four Lands

Bam!

The impact sent Adam flying to the side, as his back slammed against a hard surface in the dark space.

He rolled across the ground for a while until his momentum ran out and he finally came to a stop.

The ray swept further through the space until it gradually dissolved into tiny particles.

"Damn! What the hell was that?!" Adam exclaimed with a deep frown.

He got up from the ground as his gaze turned toward the Grand Barrier, more specifically, to the very spot where he had struck it with the Dark Energy.

There wasn’t a trace left of the hole. The barrier had fully restored itself and had even punished Adam for it.

"Hmm. Given the size of this barrier, I’d have to hit it a million times harder to break it. And... even then, I’m not sure I’d be able to destroy it. It’s quite possible that it would quickly regenerate in that case, and the full force of my punch would come back at me."

Adam had a clear goal, he had to become a Second-Rank Phantom, and he needed to do it as quickly as possible.

The sooner he reached the Second Circle, the more time he would have to understand the situation at the very top echelon of power and whether it was even possible to stop the World Wipe.

"Huh... That’s pretty ironic, isn’t it?" Adam smirked, looking at his hand. "I obtained the Dark Energy from the First Star, and that’s exactly what helped me take the first step toward destroying the Grand Barrier."

Adam realized he still had a lot of work ahead of him. He didn’t know that the other K4-Phantoms would be shocked to learn that he had already managed to damage the Grand Barrier, even if only partially.

Most of them had needed far more time and attempts before realizing that Dark Energy was an effective method for this.

Moreover, it was only at this stage that most of the K4-Phantoms were beginning their search for Dark Energy. Adam had obtained this type of energy much earlier than the others, so he was able to use it during his first encounter with the Grand Barrier.

"Hmm. So with the help of Dark Energy, I can actually damage this barrier, but... no matter how hard I strike, it won’t be enough."

In fact, the situation with Dark Energy was quite similar to his regular fist punches. Even if his punches were significantly stronger, it wouldn’t have made any difference.

But, unlike his bare fists, the Dark Energy was a means to destroy the Grand Barrier, or at least it was supposed to be part of the plan.

"Alright, I’ve learned how to create a crack in this massive wall, but that’s nowhere near enough, is it?"

Adam looked up to better grasp the size of the Grand Barrier, it was enormous, perhaps the largest object Adam had ever seen.

Unlike all his previous trials, he had no way to fulfill some condition and gain the power hidden behind it. Also, he couldn’t just strike with all his might and break the barrier, since he’d already realized that raw power wasn’t the answer.

It was a puzzle, at least, that’s what Adam hoped.

"No, this is definitely a puzzle. There isn’t a single K4-Phantom in this world who could destroy the Grand Barrier through sheer force. That’s the whole point, isn’t it?"

The Patch Construct had no intention of answering Adam’s questions or giving him any advice. It was unknown whether the Patch Construct could even do that, even if it wanted to.

Previously, it had been the mechanism that helped Adam create his Constellation and become significantly stronger, but now it was part of the Grand Barrier along with his Constellation.

Scratch. Scratch. Scratch.

Adam scratched the back of his head before nodding.

He still had a few more ideas, but he no longer had the energy to test them. Here, in this dark space, his power was severely limited, so he had to exert much more effort just to achieve even 10% of his actual power.

"Ah... Either way, even if I had 1,000% of my power, it wouldn’t solve anything. I don’t need a big crack. I need this barrier to collapse in an instant, all at once."

How could that be achieved?

Adam didn’t know yet.

But he’d spent enough time here to gather initial information and understand the approximate scale of the trial before him.

Since this was a special space, reserved only for him and the Grand Barrier, no one knew what was happening here, not even Silvana or the Evolution Tree.

They were all now waiting for Adam’s return in the inner space.

"Alright, how do I get out of here?" Adam lifted his head and looked at the Path Construct. "You can show me, can’t you?"

The Path Construct didn’t answer, there was no need to.

Tremble!

With a tremor, a beam of light appeared behind Adam, shooting high into the sky like a direct ray of sunlight.

"I see... Is this a portal to the upper level?" Adam blinked, his gaze following the light ray. "So this place is actually one level below the inner space and my Evolution Tree."

In fact, this was yet another proof that Adam now had to find his own path, one that was not tied to the world or even to his energy.

To destroy the Grand Barrier, he still had many things to understand, but first and foremost, he had to accept that he could no longer rely on the power and resources of the world in which he lived.

He had to become the primary source of his own powers.

Step.

Adam stepped forward, walking into the beam of light.

With a bright flash, his body trembled, and in the next moment he found himself in the inner space. He was in the same spot where the Path Construct had once been, but now there was only the beam of light, which had become a portal for him.

Using the beam of light, he could travel between the inner space and the dark space at any moment. Only he could do this. The others did not have that ability.

"Hi." Adam smiled as he looked at Silvana and the others. "I’m sure you have a lot of questions for me."

Silvana nodded as she took a step forward.

"So... did you see it? Did you see the barrier?"

Adam smiled bitterly.

"Yeah, and it’s just as you imagined. Well..." His eyes swept over the others. "I think I should tell you about the problems and the small progress I’ve managed to make."

...

For the next hour, maybe even longer, Adam was engrossed in conversation with his allies and friends.

At first, they listened to him attentively without interrupting. Then many of them began to come up with ideas on how to destroy the Grand Barrier. For the most part, these ideas came from Lakma and Lone Blaze, while Silvana and the Silver Weaver remained silent and merely noted certain details.

Unfortunately, all the ideas they suggested were either ones Adam had already tried and found ineffective, or ones that simply wouldn’t work on the Grand Barrier from the start.

"Damn..." The Silver Weaver rested her chin on her fist with a disgruntled look. "So, the only thing separating us from the Second Circle is a huge glass wall? Tsk, it’s so simple and so complicated at the same time that it’s actually annoying."

Lakma nodded several times, wanting to agree with the Silver Weaver.

"Yeah! Maybe we should just build up as much energy as possible and strike the Path Construct directly? If it’s there, then it must be involved in destroying the barrier somehow!"

Lone Blaze sighed deeply, her expression calm.

"If it would have even the slightest effect, it would be worth a try, but with his usual energy punches, Adam couldn’t even manage to make a small crack appear. There’s no way we’ll be able to hit it hard enough, even if we all work together."

At that moment, Silvana stared thoughtfully at a single point. Her gaze was deep and focused.

"Adam... You said that the Dark Energy was able to damage the Grand Barrier and that the Ancient Energy had an effect on it, right?" she asked suddenly.

Adam nodded.

"Have you come up with something?"

Silvana waved her hand.

"Something like that... actually, I remembered your conversation with Amelia."

"Hmm? Amelia?" Adam asked, recalling her and the entire Grad family, whom he had greatly helped by healing the head of the family, Vador von Grad.

Silvana’s eyes widened in realization.

"It was she and Nukra who helped you learn the Souls Stance, and when she first told you about the Souls Stance, she said it was one of four special anchors. The Souls Stance falls into the same category as the Ancient Energy, the Dark Energy, and..."

Adam continued for her:

"The Frenzied Flame..."

He paused for a moment before continuing:

"You might be right. If I use all four... What will happen then?"