Endless Evolution: Last Star

However, right now he could only think of the pain that had completely consumed his mind.

On

Sure, Adam had fought dangerous monsters many times and had received severe and painful wounds, but... his organs had never been damaged to this extent before.

It was worth realizing that if Adam didn\'t suppress Bladeclaw Beast\'s cells now to use regenerative energy, he would most likely die. Even Magnus couldn\'t save Adam if his insides looked like they went through a meat grinder.

The worst part was that neither Silvana, Nessa nor even Magnus could help Adam. Either he would die now and add to the number of failures in Magnus\'s method, or he could defeat the monster\'s cells and recover his arm.

Thump. Thump. Thump...

Adam\'s heart began to beat faster and faster and his Evolution Tree actively trembled. His veins swelled as he entered Resonance, but none of that was as effective in this situation as it was in battle.

He didn\'t need to get stronger, faster, or increase his reaction, no, he needed something else - to learn how to suppress Bladeclaw Beast\'s energy and subdue the monster\'s cells.

Adam was desperate to do this in the short period he had. Only talent can help one learn something quickly. Well, that wasn\'t exactly true, Adam may not have been the fastest-learning person in the world, but he was a Phantom and he had a Power Gene!

Adam got his Power Gene, a special gene from the Crown Monster, by killing Steel Knight, and besides the fact that the Power Gene increased his physical stats, the main feature of this gene was the accelerated learning of whatever Adam was doing.

Not only could he learn something as trivial as playing the piano or fencing, but more subtle things like controlling emotions, so... suppressing foreign cells in his body was also on the list of things he could learn.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

The Power Gene, looking like a triangular shield with two crossed swords in a mirrored sphere, shone brightly, releasing a silver flash that covered all of Adam\'s inner space.

A glint, for a moment, reflected in Adam\'s blue eyes, bringing with it a strange calmness and clearing his mind of the pain.

Sure, the pain wasn\'t going anywhere, but now Adam could concentrate on what was really important - suppressing Bladeclaw Beast\'s cells.

At the same moment, Adam released all of his aura and energy, and what looked like a multitude of white streams at high speed coming from him. Then, at his will, they began to move in the opposite direction, sinking into Adam\'s body and starting to condense there.

Such density in such a small space stopped all development of the Bladeclaw Beast\'s heart from which now protruded a multitude of sharp claws, piercing Adam\'s flesh.

"Fuck... I was on the edge... Sometimes past accomplishments, past victories, can help earn new ones, isn\'t that right? Everything in this world is connected..." Adam smiled bitterly. Though vivid pain still filled his body, he realized that everything was already resolved.

Crackle.

Bladeclaw Beast\'s heart exploded, as well as the claws, shattering into millions of pieces that vanished into Adam\'s body. The monster\'s regenerative energy passed through his organs instantly healing them and traveling to Adam\'s right arm.

Before he could realize anything, his skin ripped open, releasing hundreds of scarlet threads as the embodiment of the regenerative energy.

They quickly wove together creating the shape of a hand before flesh moved through them like a stream, quickly creating a new limb out of nothing.

Bone, blood vessels, nerves, veins, muscles, tendons, cartilage, and skin, everything was created exactly as it should be.

Adam\'s body remembered his hand as well as his mind, so it wasn\'t a copy or a new hand, it was the same hand that still had the small scars that Adam decided to keep after absorbing the black hole.

Adam smiled looking at his hand, he slowly clenched and unclenched it, checking if everything was alright.

Then, electricity ran through Adam\'s body and a silver needle appeared in his hand.

A moment later, Bladeclaw Beast\'s limbs were cut into hundreds of pieces, quickly losing all their energy and becoming nothing more than dust that would be removed from this room along with the monster\'s dried blood.

Bladeclaw Beast couldn\'t do anything, Adam made him expend every last drop of energy and robbed him of the most important thing, his heart.

Adam nodded and turned around, looking at Silvana and about to say something.

But...

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Adam\'s heart started beating fast again and his eyes were strangely bloodshot, not like during the Resonance, but like a bloodthirsty monster whose instincts were focused on one thing only: killing.

"What\'s happening to him!?" Silvana exclaimed turning to Magnus.

"Shit... I was afraid he wouldn\'t be able to handle it given the strength of the Bladeclaw Beast, but it ended up being the complete opposite of my expectations..." Magnus frowned heavily.

"Damn it! Speak normally, what does that mean?!" Silvana shouted.

"That there\'s too much energy and Adam will be in this state until it dissipates, but... I have no idea what he\'ll do at that point."

"Arghhh!!!" Adam clutched his head, clenching his teeth tightly that seemed to bare, like the fangs of a beast.

Silvana, Nessa, and Magnus were discussing something, but in the meantime, Adam saw the world very differently.

Smells were coming towards him as his sense of smell enhanced, everything was covered in a scarlet veil and people, including Silvana, Nessa, and Magnus became dark figures walking on a red background.

Soon, more figures appeared, from the smells coming from other parts of the lab.

Adam\'s instincts became sharper as he again felt the pressure coming from behind the doors that were in one of the nearest passageways in this closed-off part of the lab.

Whooooooooooooosh.

Adam ran out of the room, rushed past Silvana, and headed straight for those doors, driven only by his instincts, then his body was not under the control of his mind.

"Shit! Let\'s run after him before he destroys my lab." Magnus exclaimed as he pressed the remote, closing all the passageways with steel doors to separate this area from the other, the one with the scientists.

Step. Step. Step.

After a few seconds, Adam quickly reached that very passage and simply rammed through the door, finding himself in a spacious well-lit room with a faint green color emanating from above.

Adam\'s eyes went wide when he saw dozens of huge pods, inside of which were strangely enough children... and for some reason, most of them were girls.

Various tubes were attached to their pods, with solutions flowing through them. It was obvious to everyone that they were part of Magnus\'s experiment.

While Adam was trying to realize what was going on there, Silvana, Magnus, and Nessa ran into the room.

Seeing Magnus, Adam\'s mind put all the details together.

"I see... So that\'s why your lab is in the slums and I could feel such darkness from these rooms... Bastard!" Adam exclaimed. These kids were from the slums, this was something personal to Adam, not to mention the standards of morality and the fact that Magnus had always seemed like a dangerous man to him.

Adam lunged at Magnus, with the clear intention of killing him. Perhaps in a normal state, he wouldn\'t have done it in such a hurry, but his instincts still controlled him to a greater degree.

Tap.

Before Adam could reach Magnus, the sharp blade of the scalpel was at Silvana\'s neck, so close that a single movement was enough to sever her carotid artery, resulting in imminent death.

"Bastard... You revealed your face right away, didn\'t you?" Adam growled.

Adam gritted his teeth but stepped forward. He was sure that thanks to his speed from the lightning he would be able to save Silvana in time.

"Wait. Stop looking at me, take your gaze to the side." Magnus said calmly, but a distinct threat was in his voice, so Adam did as he said.

"Agh...?" Adam\'s eyes went wide.

A black pistol was pressed against Silvana\'s head. Nessa held it with a confident face, making it clear that if Adam took another step, she would shoot.