Endless Evolution: Last Star

Citadel was a big city, with a population of millions of people living here, considering Upper Ring and Lower Ring, so people must have their celebrities.

People were inclined to follow someone, to give their likes to someone. Sure, the Citadel made movies, music, and various shows, it was an important part of the economy and a moral component for ordinary people.

But... given the world they lived in, no celebrity, idol or musician could compare to the popularity and recognition the Phantoms had.

The Phantoms hardly gave interviews, they didn't do movies or commercials, and they didn't participate in public events, but... none of it made any sense.

Most of the footage of NEPs during missions was available for anyone to view, the missions department rarely hid anything.

Few ordinary people were involved, but the media helped them. They picked the most outstanding fights and spread them as much as possible to gain views.

No star, idol, or musician could compare to the sight of one man, one Phantom, slaying hundreds of monsters fighting in the name of the Citadel.

So, then, who among all the Phantoms was the most famous?

Obviously, it was the one who held the title of the strongest, the protector of the Citadel, and one of the pillars on which their entire race was held up.

"Well, well, a little different hairstyle, hat, and strange clothing is more than enough to make you unrecognizable." Damien muttered taking a sip of his milkshake.

If he went out into the city in his normal clothes and disheveled hair, without a hat, he would hardly be able to walk even ten meters without being surrounded by hundreds of people.

People just didn't expect someone of Damien's caliber to walk down the street and buy himself a strawberry milkshake in strange clothes. Sometimes, changing a few details was enough to create the perfect disguise.

"Agh... Almost a thousand calories, right?" Damien smirked looking at the milkshake in his hands, "Hah, if she knew that to me that's like a drop trying to fill an entire ocean. Well, there's something more important right now..."

Damien glanced at Fort Norton, smirked, and disappeared.

...

Step. Step. Step.

The man walked through the spacious corridor, empty and secure. No ordinary person could enter here without special authorization.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

In this part of Fort Norton, Phantoms underwent their evolution in spacious chambers.

Why did Damien come here?

Well, his purpose was obvious, he wanted to see what Adam was capable of. He wanted to satisfy his interest, nothing more and no one was able to stop him.

Crackle.

The mechanical door opened as Damien entered the room to find Douglas and Silvana's backs.

Silvana turned first. She tilted her head in confusion, not realizing who the man was or what he was doing there.

But... after a few seconds, she figured it out and her eyes went wide.

"Hello, what do you do?" Damien smiled, waving his hand like a tourist on the beach. He walked over to Douglas, taking another sip of his milkshake.

Douglas raised an eyebrow. They were well acquainted with Damien, but he didn't know why Damien came here.

"As I see I'm right on time, aren't I?" Damien smirked looking at Adam who was slowly rising from the ground.

He was trying to come to his senses after what happened. He didn't realize what that strange vortex was that looked like a large-scale version of his Revolve.

"Here, there's still half of it left." Damien said placing his milkshake in Silvana's hands, "Hope you like the strawberry flavor."

Silvana blinked a few times, dazed, and Damien was already approaching the exit.

"Wait!" Silvana exclaimed realizing that Damien was about to leave, "Give him some time to recover! His evolution was more extensive than he expected."

Damien waved his hand nonchalantly.

"Nah, I don't want to wait."

Then, he looked at Silvana over his shoulder with a kind smile on his face.

"You can always try to stop me, though. Who knows, you might even succeed."

Without waiting for an answer, Damien walked away, heading for the chamber.

Silvana's lips trembled as if she was muttering something to herself.

'Stop him...? Me...? It's impossible to even think of such a thing...' Silvana said to herself, clutching the milkshake tighter.

She realized that it didn't matter how Damien was dressed or how he acted. His power was at such a high level that a large part of humanity depended on whether he was or not.

"Agh... I don't think you need to worry." Douglas sighed heavily throwing a glance at Silvana, who was clearly not thrilled with the way the situation was unfolding.

"Hmm...?" Silvana gave him a questioning look.

Douglas scratched the back of his head.

"Damien may not look like a reliable man, but he sure knows what he's doing. If Adam is tough enough this fight will be a great test of his new abilities. In fact, I was thinking of offering him something like that myself."

"What? You wanted Adam to fight against Damien...? The difference in strength between them is too great!" Silvana exclaimed irritably.

Douglas raised his hand, with an open palm, as if stopping her panic.

"Calm down. I was going to offer him a fight against the Mid Yellow Threat monster, but... if Damien came here, there's nothing we can do but watch."

Crackle.

At the same moment, Damien entered the chamber with a slight smile on his face. There was even more room here than in Fume Cathedral, considering that it was a square with wide walls and high ceilings.

For two Phantoms to set up a sparring match, it was more than suitable, but... usually during sparring, the two participants were at about the same level and this was not the case.

Compared to Damien, even K4-Phantom was weak and insignificant.

"Hello, how are you feeling?" Damien raised his hand, saying hello to Adam.

Damien didn't bother to take off his hat and tidy up his slicked-back hair when normally it was mussed and swaying in front of his emerald eyes.

Adam turned around, he like Douglas and Silvana had not at all expected to see Damien here.

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"What...? What are you doing here?"

Damien looked up, touching his chin thoughtfully.

"Hmm... I guess I want to see what you're capable of, go ahead and show me your new abilities. I'll fight you."

Adam gulped.

"Wait... You'll fight at full strength?" Adam asked with a slight fear in his voice.

He had seen Damien fight once when Damien had rescued their squad from Desolate Forest, but Adam realized that Damien wasn't serious. To him, it was just entertainment, nothing more.

"Hahahahahahaha!" Damien laughed as if Adam had said something ridiculous and quite funny.

Then, Damien pointed to the side - to the observation room where Douglas and Silvana were looking at them through the sturdy protective glass.

"If I unleash my full power, Douglas will probably stand on his own two feet and not move an eyebrow, that old man's tougher than he looks."

Damien smirked before casting a glance at Silvana.

"But... your sweet Operator won't be able to take it. Her bones will break and her body will be under serious pressure, maybe she'll even die."

Adam's face darkened. He didn't want anything bad to happen to Silvana.

"Ah, don't worry. I want this fight to be interesting, so I'll just lower my power. You moved to the K2-Level, so I'll lower my strength to the lower limit of the K2."

Damien looked at Adam intently.

"And, as a bonus, I won't use my abilities."

Adam frowned heavily. It sounded like a humiliation to him.

"Fine, I agree."

Adam said confidently as his aura rose and energy filled his entire body.

His azure eyes were ready to shine brighter than ever.