Endless Evolution: Last Star

Sure, he wasn’t a Phantom, Operator, Harvester, Blacksmith, or Free Scientist. Technically, he was just a middle-aged man who held one of the highest positions in the military part of the Citadel.

But... Douglas had gone through many difficult events, from a simple military man, a common soldier to the commander of a huge Fort where many military and combat equipment were concentrated.

He saw all kinds of deaths, both military and Phantom, and real miracles when people got out alive from impossible situations.

Also, Douglas was aware of many secrets usually inaccessible even to most Phantoms.

For example, Douglas had known about the existence of Naturalborn Phantoms longer than Adam had lived. There was virtually no important event or valuable information that was not available to him or that he knew nothing about.

The same was true of every department head, though. Technically, the military was also a department, but an extremely large and numerous one, with a wide range of tasks and goals.

What was this man doing now that was quite possibly one of the pillars that held up the structure and operation of such a complex mechanism as the Citadel?

Well, he was drinking black, bitter coffee while reading the reports of his subordinates on a wide tablet. It was his usual routine at night, sometimes distracted by important news, for anything could happen in Dead Lands at any time of day.

He was still in his office, he would return home a little later.

Knock. Knock. Knock

Someone knocked on the door.

Douglas raised an eyebrow, slightly puzzled.

"Come in."

A short girl with shoulder-length black hair walked inside. She was dressed like a simple office worker. There was a worried expression on her face as if she had learned of something important just now.

"Mr. Douglas, I think you know that Adam and Katrin went to Black Cinder Forest today to change Initial Gene and about their temporary alliance with Golden Light Squad." The girl said uncertainly.

"Sure." Douglas nodded, "It’s not often that the Phantoms want to change their Initial Gene, this is a notable event of this day. What’s more, we sent a lot of fighters over there because of the Igno Ant Nest incident."

Douglas glanced at his watch, checked the time, then looked intently at the girl.

"Did something important happen that I should know about? Judging by the time, they should be on their way home by now." Douglas said calmly, completely confident in his words.

The girl nodded. Douglas quickly noticed the anxiety in her gaze. He had already realized that his quiet evening had just come to an end.

"Adam Vinter, his teammate Katrin, Oskar Vuurg, and the rest of the Golden Light Squad have been attacked by the Essence Scarlet Pyromancer."

Douglas tilted his head in confusion.

"And...? Essence Scarlet Pyromancer is a strong monster, but not enough to give them trouble. Don’t forget, Adam is one of the strongest K1-Phantoms, and the others are also more than capable guys. I’m well aware of their successes."

The girl shook her head biting her lip.

"That’s not the point. Right now their Operators are raising panic and demanding urgent action from us because they’ve all disappeared. We think it was due to a spatial anomaly, but... it’s all too strange."

"What?" Douglas’s eyes went wide as he rose abruptly.

"Follow me. Tell me everything in detail." Douglas said confidently stepping forward.

"Sure!" The girl nodded and ran after him.

By the time Douglas found himself in the main emergency room of Fort Norton, he had already learned all about the incident.

"I see..." Douglas muttered looking at the screen where there was a static image of the fallen black tree.

"Khm, spatial anomalies are rare, but they do appear from time to time. Moreover, Scarlet Pyromancer was attacked by Gray Stalkers, which means it happened several times with the same anomaly." Douglas said thoughtfully, rubbing his short black beard.

Douglas was talking about Scarlet Pyromancer being forcibly moved from the volcano to another location.

At that location, he was attacked by a Gray Stalker and while he was fighting, the spatial anomaly triggered again and brought him back to the volcano.

Then, the next time the spatial anomaly activated, it swallowed everyone in a wide radius taking them to where Scarlet Pyromancer and Gray Stalkers had been earlier.

"Speaking of which, where exactly did they go? Gray Stalkers are dangerous monsters, but they’re lucky it’s only Light Yellow Threat Level. Send help to them right now. A few K2-Phantoms or one K3-Phantom will be more than enough." Douglas waved his hand.

He hadn’t expected such an incident with the Golden Light Squad at the last moment before returning to the Citadel, but Douglas was experienced and knew that it wasn’t as bad as it sounded.

’They have enough strength to last for a while. Light Yellow monsters aren’t capable of dealing with such strong Phantoms quickly. All it takes is a little time and they’ll earn it with their strength, sweat, and blood.’ Douglas pondered.

"To be honest, I’ve already given the order and sent one fighter with a strong Phantom to help them. But... it’s going to be a long way to fly, moreover, they’ll have to get out of the danger zone if they want to escape." The girl replied, biting her lip.

Douglas raised an eyebrow, looking at her weirdly.

"What are you talking about?"

The girl gulped.

"Mr. Douglas they’re trapped in Fallen Crypt and... they’re in the way..."

The girl’s next words made Douglas frown heavily and his fists clenched tightly.

’Fuck... Adam... Looks like your nature has once again brought a deadly threat upon you, but... this time you and your mates will have to handle everything from start to finish.’ Douglas inwardly muttered after listening to the girl.

...

Calm currents of wind passed over the distant land dispelling the thick dark fog that completely filled the area.

It seemed to be a real land of the dead where a calm but threatening atmosphere reigned, showing that there was no place for active life here, only cold death.

Somewhere sharp cliffs emerged from the gray earth, somewhere massive skeletons the size of several buildings lay as the only reminder of the life of the once majestic and powerful monster.

Lone purple flowers with sharp spikes and massive buds covered the Fallen Crypt, being some of the few light sources in this pernicious land.

From the rare cracks in the ground, thin streams of black smoke constantly emanated, like disgusting miasmas showing that this place had long since rotted from the inside out. Or maybe there was actually something lurking below?

In the midst of these wide and inhospitable but peaceful lands, something was finally starting to happen.

Whoooooooooooooooooosh.

With a bright flash of flame, a massive flame beetle, two formidable monsters, and six Phantoms appeared.

Though they were all different from each other and had different goals, something connected them all. None of them understood what they were doing here or what would happen next.

Adam, Katrin, Oskar, and the others collapsed to the ground a few dozen meters away from Scarlet Pyromancer and the two Gray Stalkers.

’Adam! Can you hear me?’ Silvana exclaimed.

Taking a few steps back and looking around, Adam nodded.

"Yeah. Where the hell are we? Can you track my signal?" Adam frowned heavily.

Once inside Fallen Crypt, he immediately felt anxiety and slight goosebumps passed through his body. Instinctively he felt that he shouldn’t be in this inhospitable and isolated place, at least not now.

From the tiny stones scattered on the ground covered in gray dust to the whistling wind, everything seemed to want to drive this unworthy creature away.

’Yes, you’re in Fallen Crypt.

I need to understand exactly where you are to give you advice. Describe your surroundings, because of this fog I can barely see anything through the camera on your NEP.’ Silvana said quickly.

She acted hastily because the situation was urgent, but there was no panic or blind worry in her voice. She had only one goal in mind - to help Adam as his Operator. Silvana wasn’t going to make any more mistakes like Salt Village.

"Hmm... I don’t even know what to tell you. There’s dust everywhere, rocks, massive monster bones, and gray earth, and I see purple lights in the distance. Is it something important?" Adam tilted his head in confusion.

’No, those are Spiky Lilies, they grow almost everywhere in Fallen Crypt. I need something more rare or notable. Maybe there’s some oddly shaped rock, ruin, or building nearby?’ Silvana asked going over all the possible options.

The other Operators of their squad were doing roughly the same thing. However, some were trying to calm their Phantoms down, as Lero and Erla were very nervous. They weren’t ready to accept what had happened and adapt to the situation at the speed needed to do so.

At this time, Scarlet Pyromancer and the two Gray Stalkers kept their distance from each other. Their battle wasn’t over yet, but no one was in a hurry to attack.

The Gray Stalkers were happy when the Purple Threat Level monster they thought was weak appeared, but, they were the real weaklings in their league. Thus, dealing with a Top-8 monster was a really difficult task for them.

Adam scratched the back of his head trying to see something through the thick black fog.

Then, taking a few steps to the side he finally spotted some sort of shape about a hundred meters away.

The majestic peaks, the gloomy patterns, the dirty panes of glass running solidly up to the entrance gate, and the overall scale of the building reminded Adam of some sort of gothic cathedral. It seemed to be the castle of a dark king or an evil wizard from a fairy tale.

"Well, well, I have a clue for you, but it doesn’t look good at all..."