Endless Evolution: Last Star

"And?! What the hell do you want?!" Edir irritably growled, glaring at her intently, "Money? Artifacts?"

Kayla bit her pinky finger with a sly smile on her face.

"Hah, you think I'm incapable of making money on my own? Furthermore, I don't need artifacts right now. I want to get something that money usually can't buy."

Adam asked:

"What's that? You can get almost anything in the S-Zone. What exactly do you want from the two of us?"

Kayla paused for a moment before pointing to her bare feet.

"I want you two K1-Phantoms to give me a foot massage!" Kayla exclaimed vigorously.

"Fucking fetishist! This is the first time I've ever seen you!" Edir exclaimed, with great grimace, "Don't even expect me to do that, nor from Adam!"

Kayla looked away, clearly not expecting Edir to back out so quickly.

"Pfffft, then find another idiot who agrees to fight with you against K2-Phantom."

"I don't mind." Adam said confidently.

"Agh...?" Kayla turned sharply and Edir's eyes went wide.

Adam cast a glance at Kayla's feet.

"I have no desire to stay in prison for one extra minute. Moreover, I have an important appointment in three days, so there's no way I can afford to lose another week. If massaging your feet equals freedom, that's the best deal."

Kayla and Edir looked at Adam puzzled, they had not at all expected him to be so serious about such a seemingly mocking request.

Adam continued, "What's more, I can't say I'd be disgusted. You obviously take care of your feet, they're as smooth as jade scraped by the best sculptor."

Then, Adam lowered himself, but before his hands could touch Kayla's feet, she pulled her legs away with a face as red as a tomato.

"Is something wrong?" Adam raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Idiot... I lost all desire after that. Did you really have to say those things with such a serious face?" Kayla muttered, glancing away.

Then, she waved her hand nonchalantly.

"Fine, I'll join you. If I can get out of here tomorrow, it'll be worth it. Saves me five days of my life."

Adam and Edir glanced over, nodded, and smiled.

They may not have expected it to happen this way, but most importantly - they managed to accomplish the goal.

"Alright, I hope you didn't just throw sodas at us for no reason. You have the right abilities, don't you?" Edir smirked.

Kayla lifted her chin arrogantly.

"Sure. I said I'd help you, so I'll do my part. If I were you, I'd be worried about you being able to keep up with me. I only work with the best."

Edir wanted to say something, but Adam stopped him with a raised hand.

"Wait. First, I want to learn about Prago's abilities and weaknesses, then what each of us is capable of in detail, we'll prepare a plan, get some rest, and challenge him to a fight tomorrow." Adam suggested.

Kayla and Edir looked at each other and nodded thoughtfully. They had no reason to refuse since Adam's plan was simple, effective, and clear.

So from that moment until the next morning, the preparations for perhaps their toughest battle continued.

As Adam and Edir had hoped, Kayla possessed the abilities they needed, moreover, her artifact had one powerful active Trait. All in all, she had as many as three abilities.

Sure, if they had their Nexuses, their chances of victory and abilities would be much higher, but they had to act on the situation.

None of the other prisoners had any desire to fight Prago, but they watched Adam, Edir, and Kayla with curiosity.

It was obvious to the prisoners in the S-Zone that defeating Prago was possible, but doing so was not easy at all. There was about a 10% chance of success, and that was if Adam, Edir, and Kayla did everything right and had good luck.

"10%... right?" Adam asked, washing his face in front of the mirror.

"Yeah, they usually say something like that." Edir replied, waving his hand. He was relaxed on the couch, eating caramel popcorn.

"That's not... accurate... information!" Kayla uttered, taking a breath after each word since she was in the process of actively exercising.

Edir cast a puzzled look at her.

"To say that there's a 10% chance of winning, you need at least 10 fights, preferably 100, for a roughly accurate result. We have no statistics, no record of past fights and their numbers, or who exactly fought against Prago and how." Kayla replied without distracting herself from her workout.

Adam nodded.

"Yeah, that makes sense. Either way, we have to do the best we can. Not that we'll lose much if we lose, but it'll be a lot better to win." Adam uttered, wiping his face and warming up.

Edir cast a glance at Kayla.

"Hey, you got up an hour earlier than us, and you still haven't stopped for a minute. Time for a break, don't you think about that?"

"I have to be on full guard. I'm going to put my body under some serious stress, and a little workout will help me with that." Kayla replied quickly.

Step. Step. Step.

Adam headed for the door.

"Alright, I expect you in ten minutes. Already have to fight." Adam waved his hand slightly without turning around.

Edir shrugged, tilted the box, and popped the rest of the popcorn into his mouth. He chewed it quickly, tossed the box aside, and followed Adam with fire in his eyes.

Kayla stopped, took a deep breath, and looked at her hands. Unlike her feet, her palms were covered in small scars. Sure, she could easily remove those scars with the help of a skilled doctor, but... many Phantoms left scars as important memories.

It was enough to just look at a scar, and fragments from the past would immediately appear in her memory, no matter how long ago it had happened. The memories could be bad or good, but they were all part of the history of a particular person.

No matter how high you flew - you couldn't forget how you crawled and what you had to go through to get your wings.

"Fine, I can handle it." Kayla whispered, clenched her hand into a fist, and followed Edir.

Soon, they were in the middle of the hall. Strangely enough, it was already empty.

Apparently, the prison staff had learned of their plans to challenge Prago, so... overnight they had prepared the hall of the S-Zone for the fight, turning it into a proper arena.

Adam was going to use his bracelet to challenge Prago to a fight, but there was no need.

Crackle.

The door opened, revealing the silhouette of a tall man with short black hair and azure eyes. A long blue coat covered his body with an explicit six-petal flower emblem.

"In the end, you managed to get here in just three days." Prago said in a menacing tone, "Impressive. Not surprising, though, given your track record in Dead Lands."

Adam stepped forward, releasing his aura.

"Oh, so you finally found out about me. Took you longer than I thought it would."

"You're acting too arrogant for a K1-Phantom!" Prago exclaimed, releasing his azure aura.

Adam's aura was quickly torn apart, struggling to withstand the pressure that was soon to tear him from the inside out.

But... He wasn't alone this time.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

Edir and Kayla instantly released their auras, green and blue ones. They headed forward like spheres, pushing away Prago's creepy aura and allowing Adam's aura to recover.

Then, the three auras - white, green, and blue collided with Prago's azure aura.

Adam, Edir, and Kayla, even with the three of them, didn't have enough strength to suppress Prago and try to wound him that way, but they accomplished the incredible - they were able to stop Prago's aura.

"Well, well... Looks like we're in for something interesting." One of the prisoners muttered wide-eyed.

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The reason for the prisoner's surprise was quite simple. The fact that they were able to stop Prago's aura meant that their auras were roughly equal in strength.

Sure, it didn't mean that Adam, Edir, and Kayla were equal in pure power to Prago - only a fight could show that. However, they could no longer fear Prago's aura, at least not until they got to the point of using The Will.

Adam smirked. Now, he had a real confidence in winning, not just a desire to do it.

However, there was still more to come - the clash of auras was just a prelude before the actual fight.

"You. You're going to lose today, and I'm warning you. We won't just walk out of here, you won't be able to get back on your feet for a while after our fight. A lot of people have died in the time you've taken from the Phantoms here. You and your ego are the only ones to blame." Adam said menacingly with a hard stare.

Prago frowned but said nothing, he just held his hand up as if expecting something.

At the same moment, a passage opened in the ceiling as a drone with a massive black case flew up to Prago.

Adam, Edir, and Kayla were alert. They shouldn't have forgotten that they weren't just fighting a K2-Phantom, but a K2-Phantom with a Nexus, while they were deprived of that privilege!

Crackle.

Prago opened the case, revealing a long halberd with a black hilt and a dark blue blade with two short spikes on the side.

Whooooooooosh.

Prago swung the halberd, causing air currents and leaving a long cut on the ground.

"Come on. Attack. All of you together. It wouldn't be the first time I've tamed arrogant children like you. Especially you." Prago pointed his halberd at Adam, "There's something wrong with your story. It'll be interesting to find out by beating you up."

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I'm sorry for the delay. There's another big chapter coming up in a few hours.

I hope you're enjoying it.