Endless Evolution: Last Star - Chapter 98: The Last Zone

The crunch of a chocolate bar echoed through the spacious room, where only two people were watching Adam on the monitors.

“Oh, so his Operator sent him to the gravity zone? Unpopular choice. I’d even say it’s the most dangerous.” A man sitting in a chair with one leg placed over the other spoke up.

A shadow covered his silhouette, and only his sharp eyes were visible under the cover of darkness. However, like most people, he was not opposed to savoring something delicious and sweet.

“Yes.” Clara nodded. Though she was a high-ranking military officer, she stood with her back straight, holding her arms behind her.

“Well, this will be a big step forward for him. After all, Adam is one of the few who could potentially become a Second Rank Phantom.” The man said quietly, taking a bite of a chocolate bar.

Clara took a deep breath.

“I hope that you are right. The more strong and capable Phantoms there are the better. Especially in such unsettled times…”

The man cast a quick glance at Clara before continuing to watch.

…

Adam had already gone through six different elements, he was ready for anything but didn’t know what Silvana prepared for him.

“What is this…? Is it gravity?” Adam muttered in disbelief, looking at his hand.

Once he entered the seventh zone, he had to use more effort for every action than before.

‘Yes. You are only in the outer part of the zone, so the closer you get to the center the stronger the effect will be.’ Silvana explained,

“I see…” Adam said slowly rising from the ground.

The extra weight was probably something he could get used to, like many things, though Adam would always feel the increased heaviness.

It could be compared to Adam suddenly gaining a few extra kilos without changing his appearance. If a person weighs 80 kilograms, he will be able to move at 160 kilograms, slowly, with heaviness, but he could.

But, if a person weighing 80 kilograms suddenly becomes six times as heavy – 480 kilograms, he will not even be able to stand up, and his bones will be broken.

However, the Phantoms were much stronger than normal people. While the maximum for normal people was about x3 their original weight, for a Phantom, even x5 wasn’t a serious problem, only weighing them down like shackles.

“If I’m not mistaken I’m about one and a half times heavier now. It’s not pleasant, but I’m almost used to it.” Adam said calmly, looking around.

At first, he was surprised because Silvana didn’t reveal the last area, but the effect wasn’t as strong, at least not yet.

Adam searched for something to catch his eye. He had to figure out what needed to be done in the gravity zone for the seventh sprout.

Then, in the distance, he saw a slight distortion of the air and the wind currents rushing towards something. In that place, many iron pillars were trying to reach the center but stopped by the ground.

“Hm… It definitely won’t be easy, but I can’t stop. Moreover, I have plenty of time left to finish Elemental Circle.” Adam uttered as he closed his eyes and found himself in his space.

He cast a glance at the six sprouts that were slowly coiling around each other like vines. They were trying to become something whole but were missing the last detail.

However, that was not what Adam wanted to check. It was important for him to know the condition of the sprouts because the first of them was about to reach the end of its life.

The reason why Elemental Circle lasted for one week was quite simple – after six days, the sprouts would start dying like plants that didn’t have enough strength to survive in this cruel world.

Only when there were enough of them could they withstand the test of fate and continue to evolve.

Adam still had about 36 hours before the ice sprout would start to die, but he didn’t want to take any chances and was determined to finish everything in the next 24 hours.

Step. Step. Step.

Adam stepped forward, for every ten meters, feeling the pressure increase slightly. It wasn’t critical, but it had a cumulative effect, and soon Adam would have to really try to stand on his feet.

“Shit… This is getting hard.” Adam muttered, climbing up onto the ledge from which many iron pillars protruded. By this point, his weight was already at 5x and that wasn’t the limit.

Once on the ridge, Adam’s eyes went wide at what he saw.

In the distance, about a kilometer away, there was a dense black sphere hovering above the ground. It was small, about the size of a ball, but so heavy that its mass distorted space and made all other objects strive toward it.

The effect was similar to how the planets revolved around a star, but that one was devoid of light because it was a black hole!

“Hah, similar to the black hole, right? However, if it’s dense enough, it’s not a mistake, technically.” Adam smiled bitterly as he descended down the slope.

Thanks to his experience in other zones, he knew it was necessary to move to the black hole, but… Adam had completely forgotten that he wasn’t here alone.

Crackle.

A tall silhouette appeared behind him, the ground cracked beneath its powerful feet.

Adam turned around, he hadn’t realized it was a Gravitational Prismatic Elemental.

However, before he could realize anything, the Prismatic Elemental grabbed him by the face, lifted him off the ground, and ran forward – straight toward the black hole.

The Prismatic Elemental was strong and fast, and its grip was firm. Moreover, the increased gravity was not a problem for the Prismatic Elemental, and Adam felt extra gravity after every meter passed.

‘Adam! You need to get out of the grip! If he carries you another few hundred meters, your body won’t have time to adapt to the gravity!’ Silvana said quickly, ‘Don’t risk yourself! You can always use your abilities!’

Adam frowned tightly, clutching the monster’s wrist, scratching his palms.

Tough purple granite with sharp, short points like spikes covered Prismatic Elemental’s body. Purple smoke was coming out of the Elemental’s shoulders, and its head had several horns around it, creating the silhouette of a strange crown.

“Bastard. Maybe gravity doesn’t work on you, but I get the full effect!” Adam exclaimed before striking the monster’s wrist with all his might, using his fists folded into a hammer.

This attack was barely close to causing any damage to the Prismatic Elemental, but it was enough for the monster to loosen its grip.

At the same moment, Adam was affected by a zone effect that was many times stronger than before. In that short period, in the Elemental’s grip, Adam passed 300 meters out of 1,000 meters on his way to the black hole, so… it was time to face the consequences.

Bam.

Adam’s body collapsed to the ground as if an invisible hammer smashed him down with tremendous force.

“ARGH!!!!”

Streams of blood rushed from Adam’s mouth and nose, his painful scream echoed around him, drowning out the cracked earth.

If Adam had slowly moved forward one step at a time, this wouldn’t have happened, but the Prismatic Elemental wasn’t going to let him go, especially now.