Endless Evolution: Last Star Chapter 2051: No Room for Error

Deep down, the Lost Moon’s verdict about her hurt Silvana. But she hoped she was here for a reason, that her encounter with the two artifacts wouldn’t end in nothing but disappointment.

Also… she believed in Gladius and his boundless curiosity. She felt that if he was here, then things couldn’t end that simply.

Now, she finally heard what Gladius had been waiting for so long, as if he knew it was all leading up to this.

“W-What? You want me to fight Adam?” Silvana was confused.

She had never even considered such a thing. She and Adam had argued many times, but they had always been allies. Silvana didn’t even see the point in thinking about something like that. She had no reason to fight him.

Gladius nodded deeply.

“Yes. But not against the real Adam, nothing good would come of that, neither for you nor for him. You’ll have to fight against Adam’s avatar, the one you saw at the Sun Pond.”

The Lost Sun, standing to Gladius’s right, confirmed this with a slight nod.

“Indeed. You’ve seen Adam fight many times, and you’ve fought yourself in training, and perhaps under other, stranger circumstances.”

Silvana gulped. She remembered that once, in order to become stronger, they’d had to switch places. She was a Phantom, and Adam was her Operator. But that had been an illusion, and it wasn’t the same as fighting Adam for real.

The Lost Sun’s amber eyes grew deeper.

“You’ve seen what Adam’s opponents were capable of, but you’ve never experienced it. Even when you gained your own energy and abilities, it didn’t change much, because Adam was always the only one on the battlefield.”

He pointed at her.

“You must understand this, right? You can’t understand how Adam wins if you’ve never fought for your life on the battlefield. You can’t learn to cook just by reading a recipe or watching it on TV. First, you have to try cooking the dish yourself, and only after several attempts will you succeed.”

Silvana gulped – the Lost Sun was right.

‘R-Right. I can read a recipe a thousand times. I can watch someone cook a complicated dish all day long, but until I’ve personally gone through every step myself, I can’t say I know how to cook that dish. Also, it’s naive to think that I’ll get everything right the first time and won’t make any mistakes. ‘

“Alright, I agree. What should I do? How will this work?”

Before answering, the Lost Sun walked over to the Lost Moon. They took each other’s hands, and if Silvana hadn’t known who they really were, she would have thought she was looking at a young brother and sister, quiet and sweet.

“We’ll be able to create a realistic space for you. However, our energy will only last a few hours. Sure, we both have enormous energy reserves, even compared to K4-Phantoms, but this technique is complex and consumes a lot of resources.”

They both looked at Gladius at the same time.

“That’s exactly why he’s here.”

Silvana glared at him as Gladius smiled.

“Yep, I’ll be their battery. I’ll let them use my energy to sustain your space. I’m not sure exactly how long my energy will last, but I think you should have between 12 and 14 hours. That should be enough time to at least ignite a spark of talent within you.”

After a few moments of silence, Silvana pressed her palm to her chest as her heart raced.

“What… What if I don’t achieve anything during that time?”

The Lost Moon and Lost Sun were about to say something as their mouths opened, but Gladius was quicker.

“Failure.”

His blue eyes turned as dark as the ocean floor.

“It will be a failure, Silvana, for both you and Adam. Perhaps I shouldn’t have put it so bluntly, so as not to scare you, but I see no reason to hold back. If you can’t do this now, it’s over, Adam won’t be able to destroy the Grand Barrier, at least not while you’re his Operator.”

The Lost Moon frowned as she saw the purple flames within Silvana flare up with renewed intensity. Fear spread through her like a plague, and shaking it off became even harder than before.

“He… he did this on purpose,” the Lost Moon thought, gripping the Lost Sun’s hand tighter.

The Lost Sun realized this, too.

‘Hmm. This is a big risk. Right now, she thinks she has no room for error. On the one hand, that means she’ll give it her all, but on the other, that very fear might hold her back.’

They didn’t intervene, since it was already too late to do anything. So, they chose to trust Gladius, as they had another task to attend to.

“Are you ready?” The Lost Sun asked.

Silvana looked at Gladius one last time and nodded deeply.

“Yes.”

There was fear in her gaze, but determination as well.

The Lost Moon blinked as her eyes grew deeper. She saw the purple flame tremble, if only for a moment.

‘Interesting… It seems Adam Vinter didn’t stay with her for no reason. She has a chance to set everything right.’

Then, they reached out their hands to her.

“Take our hands and close your eyes. Gradually, darkness will engulf you, and all smells and sounds will fade away. When you reach the void, you’ll find yourself in the right place.”

Silvana nodded and did as they said.

Before closing her eyes, she saw Gladius waving at her.

“Good luck. You’ll need it.”

After that, the energy pulse headed toward Silvana as two different energies coursed through her body.

Just as they had said, it gradually grew quiet, and she saw nothing but darkness before her.

Gradually, a figure familiar to her emerged from the darkness, causing her eyes to widen for a moment.

“Adam, is that you…?” she muttered uncertainly.

Adam didn’t answer. Instead, he simply vanished, just like the darkness.

The next thing Silvana saw was the walls of the old crate, which seemed to be moving down the river toward some kind of lake.