Endless Evolution: Last Star Chapter 1536 1536: Glass Hall

While Adam and Alexia grasped that the rules lacked fairness and the Ancient Voice might declare shifts without warning, their power remained insufficient to breach the gate. They needed to conquer the second trial before anything else.

Step. Step. Step.

Just as in the earlier instance, Adam and Alexia trailed the glowing line. On this occasion, the path stretched out far longer, given how distant the second trial lay compared to the first.

Adam appeared at ease, yet Alexia showed obvious signs of anxiety. Her chat with Louis about the prior trial had driven home how close they'd come to total failure.

No one could predict the outcome if they'd lost, but with the rules demanding the elimination of defeated challengers, Adam and Alexia would have stood little chance of survival.

Even deploying every hidden ace and striking the barrier in unison, they still wouldn't possess the might to shatter it. That realization hit hard.

"Hey, looks like we're almost there."

Adam's words bounced against the chilly cave walls, prompting Alexia to glance back.

Before them stretched not merely a tunnel, but a vast, misty crystal like an enormous mirror blocking the way out.

"Is that a crystal door?" Alexia blinked repeatedly.

"Hmm..." Adam murmured. "The light guides us right here. We've got no option except to proceed."

Silvana's voice cut in. "Stay cautious. Probe this door carefully first. We can't predict the Ancient Voice's next move."

Adam gave a nod, his gaze sharpening, but right then, Alexia dashed ahead of him.

Brushing off Silvana's caution, she reached out to the crystal, eager to discover its composition.

Shiver.

The crystal quivered as Alexia's hand sank inside it clear to the wrist.

"Arh?" Alexia's eyes bulged while she yanked at her arm. "Shit! It's stuck! Adam, help!"

"Damn it, why do you keep landing in messes like this?!" He burst out, positioning himself beside her.

"Shut up! I was only curious and—!"

She didn't get to complete her thought before the crystal vibrated and swallowed her whole, stranding Adam by himself in the corridor.

Twitch. Twitch. Twitch.

His brow jerked, and frustration etched deeper into his features.

"Hey, Silvana, tell me straight. Do you get this feeling whenever I'm out on a job?"

"Yes. But..." Silvana hesitated. "Alexia takes it to extremes. She acts without a second thought."

Louis caught every word but stayed silent.

What response could he offer?

He understood all too well that she was spot on. Regardless of the peril Alexia faced or the price of her errors, her thirst for discovery never wavered. Patience simply wasn't in her nature.

"Agh." Adam let out a heavy breath. "Regardless, it feels like we never truly had alternatives from the start."

Step.

Adam advanced, slipping through the crystal.

Tremble.

He blinked his eyes open, spotting Alexia scanning the surroundings amid a grand hall that evoked the splendor of a cathedral.

Soaring pillars, intricately sculpted and set into the walls, stretched upward to the arches—some bare, others adorned with colossal beast statues boasting bulging muscles, clenched fists, head horns, and sprawling wings that lent them an awe-inspiring aura.

A dome overhead, split into numerous panels of vibrant stained glass, loomed high, bathing everything in a vivid azure glow that drew their focus to the central platform.

The final touch came from the shattered mirror shards nestled among the pillars. Currently fogged over with no reflections, their purpose remained a mystery.

Differing from the last trial, where Adam and Alexia had spotted their foes—the spiders—right away, uncertainty gripped them now, intensified by the trial's chaotic finish.

"Shit, you're not telling me those statues will animate?!" Alexia cried, jabbing a finger at one. "Check out those fangs and that eerie snarl! These aren't beasts, they're demonic stone guardians!"

Adam shared her unease toward the statues. A single one loomed big enough to battle the ice worm, its massive fists poised to topple even a behemoth.

Yet Adam didn't linger on them excessively.

'Animated or not, it changes nothing. We've arrived, so we'll crush whatever monsters arise. But these mirrors—what's their deal?'

Moments later, Adam shook off the thought.

"Tsk, no use staring around. We haven't even learned the trial's requirements yet."

He turned to the light line.

"Hey, maybe it's time to reveal the rules?"

The light line merely trembled in reply, sending a ripple toward the platform.

"I get it. Let's move; we can't violate rules without kicking things off."

"Hold on, let's smash these statues preemptively!" Alexia proposed.

Truth be told, Adam warmed to the notion. He prepared to act, but an inner restraint held him back.

"No, we might exploit loopholes in the rules and twist them our way, but clearing the second trial stays essential to unlock the gate. You notice it too—our path to the Third Grand Star waits beyond that barrier."

It chafed at Alexia, yet she nodded firmly, committing to hold back.

Step. Step. Step.

Side by side, they mounted the platform. It spanned generously, rivaling a modest arena in size. Ample room existed for their maneuvers or clashes with beasts.

At once, a blue fairy emerged from the platform's recess, signaling the second trial's launch.

[The second trial begins.]

A barrier encircled the platform, manifesting as a thick veil of light.

[Do not leave the barrier area or you will fail the trial.]

[Your goal is to deflect 100 cannon balls into the opening portals.]

'Cannonballs?'

The thought struck Adam and Alexia at the same instant, their eyes flaring wide moments later.

Enormous stone cannons materialized from the vacant arches, set to bombard them with volleys of projectiles.

Even so, neither realized this marked merely the onset of their ordeal. The rules were poised to blur into endless ambiguity.