Endless Evolution: Last Star Chapter 1602: Secret of the Battle (Part 1)

When Zargos made his entrance, Adam and Alexia showed no signs of worry. In contrast to Liliane and the fifth team, dealing with only a single Lord here, they recognized Ramilo's strength from Goen's faith in him, something that held real importance.

Therefore, Adam believed that once a couple of strikes were traded, Ramilo would claim victory with ease, letting them press onward to the Primal Lands' departure point.

However... things didn't unfold as straightforwardly as he'd imagined.

'Hold on, how did he land that blow?' Adam felt stunned. 'Even worse, Ramilo's hurt! It's merely a scorch mark... but could that indicate Zargos outpaces Ramilo?'

Ramilo, on the other hand, brushed it off without a second thought.

"Tsk, Zargos, I'll reek like I've tumbled into flames the whole day now!"

"Hah, that's on you," Zargos sneered. "You might've evaded or parried my strike, or... are you just too sluggish for it?"

Ramilo's eyes tightened as he charged ahead.

Initially, he resembled a massive bull charging to bulldoze Zargos, yet shortly after, his body started quivering.

He flickered in and out of sight around Zargos's position, aiming to throw him into disarray.

"Here it comes!" Ramilo shouted while striking from the left side.

Zargos whirled swiftly to retaliate.

Their punches met with a blast that unleashed a blazing circle of force.

Ramilo's gaze sharpened further as he struck once more, materializing to Zargos's right, though the outcome mirrored the previous one.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Strangely, Zargos held back from launching the initial assault. He anticipated Ramilo's moves and countered each one precisely.

"Bring it, you hefty brute! Let me witness your true potential!"

"Or..."

For the first time in their skirmish, Zargos's expression turned grim.

"I'll reduce you to nothing but cinders!"

Crimson flames surged over Zargos's arms, reaching his shoulders, while his presence intensified dramatically.

This time, he seized the offensive, and that spelled trouble for Ramilo.

Clang!

Their fists smashed together, shaking the boulders in their wake.

"Agh?"

Ramilo's eyes bulged as a streak of fire raced along his limb.

"Eyes on me!" Zargos bellowed, driving his foot squarely into Ramilo's chin.

The sheer power hurled Ramilo backward through the air. Under ordinary circumstances, that might not matter, but not here.

Regardless of the chaos unfolding overhead, the earthworm kept burrowing onward, clearing its route.

As a result, rather than landing on firm earth, Ramilo plummeted right off the earthworm.

Zargos stayed atop the colossal beast, eyeing Ramilo with a wide, triumphant smile.

"Hold up, was this his plan from the start?!" Adam thought in alarm.

No matter Ramilo's might, without him present, protection for them vanished.

Then, it dawned on Adam and Alexia—they had no path to flee, trapped aboard this unstoppable living conveyance with no way off.

"HHHHHAAAAAA!!!!" Ramilo drew in a massive gulp of air, his form expanding further to mimic an inflated rubber sphere.

Alexia arched a brow in confusion.

Ramilo gestured with his hand, summoning a cluster of blue energy beside him that detonated in the instant after.

The propulsion flung him sideways, where he rebounded against the tunnel's surfaces. Each bounce accelerated him more until the following leap brought him near the earthworm.

"You won't shake me off so simply!"

Ramilo slammed down onto Zargos from overhead.

Had that blow struck the earthworm outright, disaster would ensue for all, yet Zargos chose to meet it head-on.

BAM!

Ramilo's punch dislodged Zargos from the earthworm, but unlike his foe, he swiftly adapted.

Whoooooosh!

Crimson flames wrapped around Zargos's legs as he dashed along the tunnel walls, encircling them in a fiery loop from up high.

Adam swallowed hard. He couldn't fathom the velocity needed to overtake the earthworm so effortlessly on those sheer inclines.

'He must be able to propel himself with fire, like dual rockets, yet he's sticking to his feet alone?'

Adam's brow furrowed.

'Is he adhering to some code? For a guy aiming to snatch me for bounty, isn't Zargos behaving awfully by-the-book? This guy's odd.'

Blast!

A subsequent fiery burst snapped Adam from his musings as a barrage of strikes hammered Ramilo.

"Come on! Ramilo! Is that the best an Old Light member can muster?!"

Bam! Bam! Bam!

In brief instants, Ramilo and Zargos blurred into motion so rapidly that Adam and Alexia caught only hazy outlines amid their forms.

All they managed was to hold their breaths, anticipating the victor of this clash, desperately wishing for Ramilo's success.

Yet...

"GHA!!!"

A agonized yell reverberated down the passage as Ramilo crumpled to the floor close to Adam and Alexia.

Twitch. Twitch. Twitch.

His muscles spasmed from surges of agony coursing through him. Each of Zargos's hits proved lethal, shown by the array of burns scarring Ramilo. No spot remained untouched by injury.

Meanwhile, Ramilo's efforts had merely left faint gashes on Zargos's shoulder and left cheek.

"Ramilo, the moment of truth is here!" Zargos declared in an over-the-top, dramatic tone.

Phat!

Ramilo coughed up a glob of blood, rising from the dirt with a grumpy expression.

"Tsk, can't you just concede gracefully? Why force my hand like this?"

Still, Zargos stayed silent. He crossed his arms behind his back and observed, fully aware Ramilo had no alternatives.

Ramilo shook his head and inhaled deeply.

"Ghhhhaaaaa!"

He kept inhaling, his exhalations turning icier by the moment, while his muscles quaked fiercely.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

His muscles swelled like overfilled balloons to gigantic proportions, transforming him into a grotesque, oversized freak from a botched lab creation.

However...

The instant Ramilo blinked, his eyes shifted to blue, and a torrent of scalding steam erupted from his frame.

For several seconds, a shroud of steam concealed Ramilo's shape until a sudden breeze unveiled him.

Adam and Alexia's eyes stretched wide in astonishment.

Gone was the enormous, swollen Ramilo, or even his typical cuddly build; in his place loomed an entirely different entity.

His stature had shrunk, now a tad below Zargos's height, with features chiseled like rugged stone, and sinews like iron bars rippling under his azure hide, clad solely in a thin coat of fur.

Before them stood no longer the playful, jovial big cat, but a deadly engine of destruction boasting talons keener than the sharpest sword.

"Perfect, exactly what I hoped for!"

Zargos cheered like a kid thrilled with a prize for his hard work.