Endless Evolution: Last Star-Chapter 1653: Up or Down? (Part 2)

’Lone Blaze... She’s changed,’ Adam muttered to himself, gazing at the countless stone columns ahead. ’Though it’s for the better. She’s become more confident and open. This is the first time she’s truly undergone an evolution.’

His situation was not easy. He didn’t know how much time he had before the Blood of God began to destroy his inner space. He couldn’t use his Nexus until it had fully absorbed Queen Elisa’s blood, and he was in the midst of dangerous, unknown territory.

Looking around, Adam nodded. He saw no point in heading into the darkness beyond the columns. Only the abyss and the faint light falling from above onto the nearest columns could help him get out of here.

Step. Step. Step.

Carefully, Adam approached the edge, wanting to see what lay at the very bottom, but to no avail. The lower the cave rings went, the thicker the darkness became.

"Tsk, what else did I expect? A straight path home?"

Then, Adam looked up. Here began his first glimmer of hope. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Above was a passage, a cave ring just like the others, but there was no additional level above, it was a direct path to the outside. There were no barriers or guards here. Nothing was stopping Adam from leaving this place right now.

He had no other option anyway, so, gathering his thoughts, Adam prepared to jump to the upper level.

Whoooooooosh!

At the same moment, a massive shadow swept past him at tremendous speed.

In an instant, Adam took a step back, feeling a tremor ripple through the columns. With difficulty, Adam managed to make out in the shadow a serpent, or at least a creature very much like one.

But what caught Adam’s attention was something else.

Several figures were sitting on the serpent, using the enormous monster as a means of transportation. They were all focused. Their faces were serious, with a slight frown, and their eyes were closed. None of them even noticed Adam.

’Are those monsters? They look like they’re preparing for something. No, not even that. They’ve been preparing for this for a long time, and now the moment has come when they can’t afford to make a mistake. They must be at their peak.’

At the time, Adam didn’t think much of it, but the tremor emanating from the serpent and passing through hundreds of columns produced a faint melody reminiscent of a bell ringing. Anyone who was at the cave rings or beyond them could hear it.

For a few more seconds, Adam stood still, as if expecting another serpent to appear, but that didn’t happen.

"It seems that either something important is happening below, or this is an alternative to the Ice Path in the Prima Lands. Although... it seems that these cave rings are the path itself."

Naturally, Adam was curious to find out what lay below, but he realized it was risky and pointless. What he had to do now was climb up.

’Alright, let’s see what awaits us up there.’

With no fear in his eyes, Adam leaped, effortlessly climbing onto the next cave ring, then another, and another.

He encountered no traps or monsters waiting for him in the shadows, only empty columns. Now, Adam was convinced that this abyss was not a dangerous dungeon in itself, as had been the case with the Vaarh’s lair.

’I don’t know if I’ll ever have to go down there or not, but those guys looked strong. I couldn’t gauge the full depth of their power, their auras were too calm, but they’re definitely not some purple threat level monsters.’

With a nod, Adam made one last jump, finally reaching the surface.

The first thing he heard was a crunch under his feet, and his gaze immediately turned there.

He stared at the gray sand, not ash, nor metallic dust. This was its natural color. Small bones peeked out from the sand, or rather, shattered fragments. They created that crunch with his step.

"Well, that won’t scare me," Adam smirked as he turned to survey the entire area around him.

In an instant, his expression changed, and his gaze froze.

Ahead, for hundreds of kilometers, there was nothing but a gray desert with vast dunes, massive bones protruding from the ground, and dry, dark trees with sharp branches.

The black sky, with a moon reduced to nothing more than a disk, as if during a solar eclipse, covered these vast lands and was the only source of light.

Then, Adam’s gaze turned to the towering structures, the colossal pillars that seemed to reach toward the sky. All of them were made of smooth white stone, broad and majestic.

The only difference between the pillars, aside from their size and height, was their tops. Some pillars ended in tall, sharp spikes like menacing towers, while others had a smooth dome, calm and protective.

What alarmed Adam to the depths of his soul was not the sand, nor even the pillars, but the scale of this territory and the fact that he did not understand where he was.

"Wait... That’s the sky," Adam looked up. He saw neither stars nor the sun, only an eclipsed moon and a black veil covering the endless lands. "I’ve never seen anything like this anywhere..."

If Adam had found himself in some territory or in the stronghold, he wouldn’t have been surprised. Such changes were normal in small domains, but the place where Xyrea had sent him struck him with its scale.

At that moment, only one thought crossed Adam’s mind, and it frightened him:

’This place is so different from anything I’ve seen before. It feels like I’ve ended up in another...’

Tremble!

Before Adam could finish speaking, a ripple passed through the air, catching his attention. From afar, an unusual-looking monster flew in.

The gray flesh, covered in the same fur, resembled a controlled cloud in shape and size, leaving a faint dark trail behind it.

The monster had neither limbs nor jaws, only a single large amber eye that was now fixed directly on Adam.

The monster wasn’t trying to attack Adam. It was just watching the strange guest with curiosity, studying him.

However, Adam wasn’t happy about this at all.

"Shit..."

He realized that if this monster wasn’t going to fight him right now, it was relaying information to those who were capable of doing so.

No matter how hard Adam tried, trouble always seemed to find him.