Endless Evolution: Last Star

When Phantom wanted to change his Initial Gene, he must first get rid of the old one. That had to be done beforehand so that when he fought the monster of his choice, the Evolution Tree would instantly make contact with the monster's genes.

If Phantom deleted his Initial Gene only after killing the monster, the chances of successfully replacing the Initial Gene would be ten times lower, because during the battle, Evolution Tree would not try to find a replacement for the void within itself, treating the monster as a source of simple genes rather than a new core of its power.

Katrin knew this, as well as all other details related to Initial Gene replacement, it was the original goal of this mission, it was her dream, so she prepared perfectly.

Adam also knew what needed to be done on his part. Katrin wasn't strong enough to kill Essence Scarlet Pyromancer alone, her aura was strong enough, but she was the support.

For a Phantom like Katrin, Essence Type was the most dangerous opponent, as such a monster could simply destroy her with one powerful attack, and she wouldn't be able to do anything. For this, she needed Adam - her sword in this mission.

There were many conditions, nuances, and information about the Initial Gene replacement, but there were only two basic rules - Katrin had to make the final attack, and her genes had to interact frequently with Scarlet Pyromancer's genes.

Sure, Adam's genes affected the monster's genes, but the pollen effect, along with Katrin's roots, put the influence of Katrin's genes into each of Adam's attacks, making her the primary participant in the battle while Adam was just a secondary Phantom.

A moment ago, Katrin could barely stand on her feet, only thanks to the pollen effect was she able to regain enough energy to use her First Order - creating a ladder for Adam to Fume Cathedral's roof.

But, now Katrin was full of energy. Her Evolution Tree was releasing massive amounts of energy, making her far stronger, than she had ever been.

Her powers had risen to the same level as if Katrin had entered Resonance, moreover, now, given the power of her abilities, her energy was practically limitless.

However... this power was not free. Seven minutes after Phantom removed his Initial Gene, the inevitable death would come.

For the first five minutes, Phantom was stronger, than usual due to active energy flows, then for the next 1 minute and 50 seconds, Phantom's power would drop significantly.

In the last ten seconds, Evolution Tree had taken emergency measures to drain the life force from the Phantom's body as it had run out of energy.

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The important point was, that for the last ten seconds, Phantom was practically a normal person. The Phantom no longer had an Initial Gene, the Evolution Tree was empty, and his body was significantly weakened.

"Well... There's no turning back now..." Katrin muttered, looking at the green star hovering between her.

Deep in the bright light, she could make out the reflection of her first slain monster, the one whose Initial Gene had been with her all along - Black Grim Ent, a walking tree with amber eyes and creepy branches possessing pointed tips.

It was strange, but then she felt nothing but sorrow for the monster as if she had to say farewell to her best friend, the loyal companion that had always been with her, in good times and bad.

The green star slowly dissipated, piece by piece disappearing, reflected in Katrin's sad eyes. Phantoms and monsters were each other's natural enemies, but, without Black Grim Ent, she couldn't have become who she was now.

Pretty soon, there was nothing left of the green star, it only took ten seconds, and in Katrin's situation, that was the most she could spend standing still, giving in to memories from the past.

Now, it was time to act.

Phantom could absorb the monster's gene to make it his Initial Gene any time out of the 7 minutes, but the easiest time to do it was in the first 5 minutes, while Phantom was stronger than ever.

Whoooooooooooooosh.

Katrin gripped her staff tightly, pointing it at Adam.

Adam ran through the spiky roots, quickly approaching Essence Scarlet Pyromancer, who was finally starting to suspect something.

He had previously managed to remain undetected in every situation, so he couldn't believe that he had suddenly become a target of the Phantoms when he fought against Plague Reaper.

However... with Adam almost getting to him, a rough understanding of what was going on here came to Scarlet Pyromancer.

"Hmm? What's going on?" Adam muttered, throwing a quick glance at his body.

The roots that covered his body like an exoskeleton suddenly dropped, taking the red energy from Lero's magic circle. These two abilities made Adam much stronger.

Strangely enough, this happened at Katrin's will. She decided to cancel her past ability, as well as Lero's.

It wasn't a mistake, Katrin did it to help Adam, but at the same time not to hurt him. She realized that his body had a limit, so she made some room for Adam to be able to take her ability but enhanced one.

"I hope I don't overdo it... Adam, you're strong, right? So ignore the pain." Katrin muttered as her eyes shone brightly and arrays of energy traveled to the tip of the staff.

Then, a creepy seed with many wriggling roots came out.

Never before Katrin was able to create a seed with so much energy with her Nexus - now Adam had to face this power.

Whooooooooooooosh.

Like an emerald spark, the seed headed towards Adam, smashing into his chest like an enemy attack rather than help from an ally.

Adam gasped, before he could do anything, the seed thrust its sharp spikes into his skin, clinging tightly to his chest.

The seed shuddered, forcing long roots all over Adam's body.

However, other than the higher level of pain that caused Adam's eyes to go wide and his whole body to shake, there was one distinct difference between this seed and all the previous ones.

There were significantly fewer roots, and they were thinner.

Previously, the roots had been thick, covering a third or more of Adam's limbs, but now there was only one root per limb.

The roots were thin, almost like veins, and there was a constant flow of green energy through them like liquid running within a great tree.

And... as the roots spread through Adam's body, the moment he feared most came.

Thrust.

From all the roots, long spikes, more like needles, emerged simultaneously. They pierced deep into Adam's skin, injecting their energy inside.

From such a sharp and vivid flash of pain, Adam immediately lost consciousness. His eyes rolled up before drooping down and closing.

Adam almost reached Fume Cathedral's roof, but all he could do now was fall down while passed out.

Katrin bit her lip. She knew it was a risk, but expected Adam to regain consciousness soon.

She had used her ability on herself a few times, so she knew how much it hurt.

However... she couldn't even imagine how vividly painful this enhanced seed with its needle-sharp spikes was to Adam.

At the same moment, a bright flash lit up the roof.

Scarlet Pyromancer opened its flaming wings wide, finally revealing his presence, even though everyone already knew about him.

The red flame particles spread out to the sides, while Scarlet Pyromancer's wings gradually gained speed.

After a few seconds, his legs lifted off the roof of the creepy building, heading for the sky.

'No!' Katrin inwardly exclaimed, realizing that Scarlet Pyromancer must not have escaped, or else everything would come to an end.

Bam.

The ground shook as a thick cloud of dust rose up near Fume Cathedral, beneath Katrin's roots. It seemed as if something had exploded there, but... that was impossible since that's where Adam had fallen unconscious.

A blue flash flew out of the dust cloud, leaving a bright green plume.

In a heartbeat, Adam made it to the roof, he didn't need Katrin's roots for that, he just ran up the wall, using his powerful legs and speed.

Whoooooooooooooosh.

Bouncing off the roof, Adam made it crack. With ease, Adam reached the huge Scarlet Pyromancer, who, to his misfortune, had yet to fly high enough.

Adam threw his needle forward with a serious glare, but not to injure Scarlet Pyromancer.

Then, before the needle could reach the roof that was now below, Adam lunged forward, gripping his needle tightly.

He used the first grip, so the connecting thread covered Scarlet Pyromancer from above.

Adam took a deep breath before standing tightly on the ground and grasping his needle tightly with both hands.

"ARGH!!!"

Gritting his teeth, Adam pointed his needle downward, causing the binding thread to tense, pinning tightly over the Scarlet Pyromancer and pulling the huge monster along with it, following the momentum Adam had set.

"TRSK!!!"

Scarlet Pyromancer made a strange, insect-like sound, trying to fight back. The binding thread was not sharp enough to cut the plates on his wings, but strong enough to withstand the hot flames emitted by Scarlet Pyromancer.

Step.

Adam stomped his foot with all his might, causing Fume Cathedral to shudder before he tilted his torso forward, throwing Scarlet Pyromancer straight ahead like a projectile attached to a chain mace.

Given the speed and power, Scarlet Pyromancer could not stop even while actively flapping his broad, heavy wings.

The hardest part was making the throw, Scarlet Pyromancer weighed as much as an entire house, so gravity helped the monster reach the ground.

Plague Reaper, watching this scene from afar, gulped. He realized that he should stop Katrin and Adam, but...

First, he had to deal with the beast in human form, running straight towards him at enormous speed.