Endless Evolution: Last Star Chapter 1976: Five and Two (Part 2)

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Previously on Endless Evolution: Last Star...
Breydar was ambushed by five Lords from the Veiled Souls Clan, but Adam Vinter appeared and revealed his intention to kill Breydar. Unable to face the Lords alone, Breydar reluctantly agreed to Adam's proposal: they would temporarily ally to eliminate the Lords together, after which Adam would fight Breydar.

Adam and Breydar found themselves in a strange situation.

Breydar wanted to survive, and to do so, he had to kill all five members of the Veiled Souls Clan who were hunting him.

He tried to escape, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t go any further out into the Gray Sea, since Island A215 was his best chance to fight and win.

Adam, for his part, wanted to kill them all, but his main target was Breydar.

Thus, Adam had two options. He could stand by and make sure Breydar was dead, but then the remaining Lords would survive. Or, he could suggest that Breydar and he split up their common enemies and then fight each other.

For Adam, this was the only way to kill the six Lords: three Viscounts and three Barons.

For Breydar, Adam’s plan was his only chance to survive. Sure, the odds were still slim, but significantly better than before.

"So, are we sort of a team now?" Breydar asked cautiously.

Adam looked up.

"If it makes you feel better, you can think of it that way. Technically, we’re both enemies of the Veiled Souls Clan. Does that make us allies, even if only for a little while? Maybe, maybe not."

Breydar nodded.

"Before we get started, I want to ask you something."

"Sure. Go on."

Breydar clenched his fist.

"Why? Why do you want to kill me? We’ve never met before - I’m sure of that."

Adam turned around. His gaze was calm, devoid of hatred or malice. To Breydar, that expression was the worst of all.

"There’s a reason. It’s an order from the Citadel. They want your head. You should have thought about the consequences when you killed dozens of Phantoms during your escape at the Gray Sea. As you can understand, I don’t approve of such actions, and I accepted this mission."

Breydar’s eyes grew deeper as he nodded.

"I see. Now it’s all clear to me. So there’s no point in trying to talk you out of it?"

"Yes. You’ve got it exactly right. If you had killed a Phantom in a fair fight, where you both battled to become stronger, then perhaps I wouldn’t have intervened. But you used weaker Phantoms simply as batteries. That’s a far cry from a fair fight for the sake of strength, isn’t it?"

Breydar couldn’t argue with that. He’d done it because, otherwise, the Veiled Souls Clan would have caught up to him back at the Dark Shore. He wouldn’t have been able to reach the Gray Sea and Island A215.

However, he realized there was no point in explaining this to Adam, since it didn’t change the fact that he’d killed many Phantoms.

"Well... In that case, I have only one question left."

Breydar turned to face the clan squad.

"There are five of them and two of us. Who will fight whom? I’ll say this right away. I won’t let you take three Barons. Under those conditions, it would be easier for me to accept death right away and not suffer."

Adam looked at Breydar for a moment before nodding.

"Fine. What do you suggest? It seems you’re familiar with each of them, aren’t you?"

"Yes."

Breydar did not attempt to hide it.

"The woman and man up ahead are the Viscounts. The woman’s name is Raoha, and she’s their leader. Of the three Barons, I only know the girl. Her name is Luaxa, and she’s quite close to becoming a Viscount."

Adam’s pupils widened for a moment as realization dawned on him.

"Judging by her perpetual frown, she must be the one who uses the Crystal of Hollow Souls."

"Huh. Looks like you don’t know all that much."

Breydar chuckled.

"But, yes, you’re right, it’s her. I think you can imagine just how evil she is. She almost became a viscount, but I took that opportunity away from her."

The corners of Adam’s mouth turned up. "Looks like you’re proud of what you did, huh?"

In response, Breydar spread his hands wide with an innocent smile.

"What can I say? Stealing that crystal wasn’t easy, but as you can see, I managed to do it and become stronger. I took what belonged to her. I’m sure she wants to kill me more than anyone else."

"Hmm..." Adam hummed as he weighed their options.

Breydar was right. If they were going to work together, they had to decide who to take on.

"How about this - I’ll take on Raoha and Luaxa. They’re the strongest Viscount and the strongest Baron. Everyone else is yours. What’s more, I’m sure you’ve set up plenty of traps for them on this island that will make the battle easier for you."

Before Breydar could give his answer, Adam’s voice rang out again, this time much lower and darker.

"I won’t take on another Baron, considering that Raoha and Luaxa are taking me on. You must understand that. After all, we’re enemies."

Breydar narrowed his eyes and nodded.

"Fine, I agree. Two against you and three against me. How are we going to make them split up? What if all four attack you or me?"

Adam looked up at the cascade of energy rays that continued to fire at Raoha and the others. They were defending themselves using barriers made of their own energy.

"Well. That’ll be easy."

"Ah?" Breydar blinked, confused.

Adam turned to him.

"How much longer will these pillars keep firing?"

Breydar looked at the crystal pillars, which were growing dimmer. They had already lost more than half of their bright light.

"About two or three minutes. After that, I’ll stop them and save some energy for other actions."

"Good. That’ll be enough. I have a plan."

...

About three minutes later, the energy rays finally stopped shooting out of Island A215.

Raoha and the others lowered their arms as the protective barriers in front of them vanished.

"Tsk." Raoha clicked her tongue. "That bastard’s plan was obvious, but we actually wasted quite a bit of energy. The shots lasted longer than I expected."

The bearded man nodded.

"Indeed. But now he’ll have to face us."

"Yes!" Luaxa, who was standing behind them, clenched her fist. "Let’s attack all together!"

Raoha nodded as she gave the order:

"Good. Let’s attack all together."

At that very moment, all five of them stormed Island A215, unaware of what awaited them there.