Endless Evolution: Last Star Chapter 1543 1543: Endless Enemies

Adam and Alexia were stepping into the Primal Lands for the very first time, plunging right into a spot teeming with grave danger.

They had picked this path themselves, enduring a slew of hardships while led by the Ancient Voice.

At last, they arrived at their destination, where the Frost Oasis matched their expectations mostly, aside from the dragon head and azure tree that caught them off guard.

Yet neither Adam nor Alexia realized it wasn't merely an oasis or a gleaming pool, but something far more sinister and tied to demise.

"What?" Adam spun about and spotted the blue fairy far off. "So now you finally decide to appear?!"

[It is the will of this place's owner. While it operates, every rule must be followed and respected. Your earlier ordeal was also due to the owner's will.]

Alexia furrowed her brow.

"So this owner just ignores the rules whenever it suits him and faces no consequences?!"

The blue fairy simply floated above the earth, remaining quiet.

"Answer me, damn it!" Alexia stomped her foot, aiming to cow the Ancient Voice.

Oddly, her tactic succeeded.

[Yes. The owner holds power far beyond your level. It... It can twist the rules as needed.]

Alexia burned with rage, but Adam's expression stayed neutral. He grasped this truth right when the rules first vanished and shifted.

He grew certain of it upon nearly unlocking the gate, only for the rules to block him, yet the gate swung open anyway, showing the owner had permitted their entry.

"The owner—could it be this dragon?" Adam pondered, then dismissed the idea with a shake of his head.

Time was short for such thoughts, as a fresh crisis loomed:

"Alexia, prepare for combat!"

"Agh? Fight who?" She gestured toward the side. "You expect me to battle a tree? What nonsense is this with the rules? Which foes must we take down?!"

Questions flooded her mind, just as they did Adam's, though answers would come swiftly to all.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

The azure tree's power surged dramatically, while a rumbling noise erupted from the soil, pulling their focus.

Over a dozen claws clawed upward as crimson skulls with stretched maws lined with hooked teeth broke through.

Alexia let out a sharp intake of breath, staring as the creatures burrowed free from the earth.

"They were here all along? But why beneath the ground? What sort of idiotic snare is this?!"

"No, they weren't lying in wait for us—it's no ambush. Damn! Check them out! They've been gone for ages!"

Alexia's gaze stretched wide as she examined the beasts up close. Their skin showed dark green decay at the borders, and patches of exposed bone and ribs peeked through in spots.

These beasts amounted to mere undead, roused for conflict long after their end.

"You see it too, right?" Silvana's voice rang in Adam's mind as his stare locked on the azure tree.

"Yeah." He gave a nod. "This tree doesn't just draw energy from the fallen and their blood—it can bring back those not fully devoured. Hell, with all these skeletons and remains scattered around, this isn't some cavern; it's a full-blown graveyard!"

From afar, Adam and Alexia faced little peril.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

The blue fairy quivered:

[The final trial commences now!]

Right then, a surge of runes like a advancing barrier shoved them ahead, sending them tumbling over the edge.

Adam and Alexia fought back, yet they stood no match for such might. In hostile ground where the Ancient Voice bowed to control, they held the weaker position.

Thump!

Both hit the dirt hard, with the Frost Oasis and shielded dragon head off to their right, while the azure tree to their left kept spawning fresh horrors by the second.

At present, over thirty varied beasts glared their way, and this marked just the start.

"Hey, per the rules, we need to slay every beast to make it out alive, correct?" Alexia wiped her lips.

Adam inclined his head.

"Then why not just smash this dumb tree?!"

Alexia charged ahead without pause, a veil of white mist trailing behind her.

The scarlet creatures pounced like infernal hounds, though they weren't her aim. She viewed them as no true foes.

Her gaze mirrored the massive blade, and soon a colossal ice sword materialized in her hold.

SLASH!

The frozen edge, through raw power alone, shattered the scarlet creatures, the force flinging them away with mangled limbs and shattered snouts.

But...

"GRH!"

Despite their mangled forms, they hauled themselves up. Those with spared limbs stood, while the rest dragged along, snapping their maws.

Alexia's eyes bulged as the truth dawned.

'They're long dead, so mere injury won't banish them. I must obliterate their forms entirely!'

Whooooosh.

Adam caught on too, darting beyond Alexia as her vision filled with countless white threads.

The instant after, Adam crossed his arms, unleashing the pale strands in a vortex of slicing edges that reduced the scarlet beasts to sprays of gore and minced meat.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

The azure tree strained to mend them, but failed. The spasming limbs and skulls offered no danger to the pair of Phantoms.

"Go! Alexia! Take down that tree! It's the key to piercing the barrier and reaching the oasis!" Adam shouted.

Alexia dipped her head firmly, hoisting her ice swords aloft before slamming them down with full might upon the azure tree.

Stomp!

A pair of hulking beasts, revived in the wake of the scarlet ones, blocked the azure tree's front. They lifted their limbs to halt the ice sword, but the edge cleaved right through their grasp.

In one more heartbeat, Alexia would shatter the azure tree, the final obstacle barring the Frost Oasis!

Crack.

All at once, a silhouette burst from the soil, tiny beside the beasts, planting its feet solidly on the terrain.

Alexia caught sight of its humanoid shape as the mysterious foe thrust its arms skyward.

The enormous ice blade wedged tight between the figure's hands.

A quake rippled through the earth as chill raced along Alexia's spine.

"S-Shit."

Adam swallowed hard, grasping a vital detail:

Besides the slain beasts, Awakened Monsters and Phantoms had perished here too.

Now, they all stood against them.