All Adam knew about the fourth lesser gates was that he needed to return to his beginning. It was a vague statent, but in his long interaction with his Evolution Tree, Adam had beco more aware of the mysteries of his faithful ally.
'Hmm... In my early days, I can only describe myself in three words,' Adam muttered internally. 'I was weak, lost, and... delighted. I realized what lay ahead of if I survived.'
Then, Adam stepped forward, making his first attack.
In a heartbeat, he found himself between Vorx and Heret, who were waiting for his charge.
The crimson sword reflected in Heret's eyes, forcing him to expose his block. The flas condensed in front of him, forming a dense barrier.
Yet, it wasn't enough.
"What...?"
Heret's eyes went wide in disbelief as the impact threw him aside. A few drops of blood hovered in the air, imdiately going up in flas.
Without a mont's hesitation, Adam spun around as the purple wave traveled down his body.
Under Vorx's surprised gaze, he smoothly swept his palm from top to bottom, leaving a short white line in the air.
All of Vorx's instincts scread, causing his body to jerk sharply to the left, dodging the barely visible blade at the last mont.
Slash.
A surge of blood rushed from his right shoulder, shallow, but his scales and sturdy body couldn't hold the blade even slightly.
Adam stepped forward, the ground cracking as he pointed his sword at Vorx, about to finish off the first opponent.
At the sa mont, a shadow fell over him as Heret's hand gripped his head firmly. In a sharp plunge, Adam's face slamd into the ground.
Before he could recover, Vorx bounced back and folded his palms together, storing energy in the tiny gap between his hands.
Whoosh.
Adam swung his sword, throwing Heret off of himself, but this ti Heret was ready for it. He did a sorsault in the air, bouncing off the red pillar to co at Adam like a projectile again.
Sure, Adam was able to block Heret's attack, but it gave Vorx the ti he needed.
"Adam, look here!" Vorx exclaid, drawing his attention.
In a heartbeat, a flaming ray was launched towards Adam's side, causing his eyes to go wide.
Even with all the amplification, he didn't have ti to dodge. Everything was happening too fast.
The only thing Adam was left to do was tense his legs and thrust his crimson sword out in front of him.
The flaming ray pushed him back dozens of ters, two long furrows left on the ground from his feet while the destructive energy tore the fire apart piece by piece.
"Gha... Gha... Gha..."
Adam was breathing heavily when Heret and Vorx returned to their starting position. They ran their hands over their forearms, pressing the scales tightly together as if lighting matches. The flas ignited with renewed vigor as they released more energy.
They tried to hide it behind a stoic expression, but this brief exchange of attacks took as much energy from them as from Adam.
Risha, Grita and Torz standing on the sidelines couldn't believe in what they saw. The serpents were especially shocked.
Grita gulped. "No way... I had hopes that Vorx and Heret together were strong enough to stand up to Arnoth, but... Now I realize how stupid I was."
"Yeah... Looks like it," Torz nodded weakly. "That guy didn't hold back when he hit , it's going to hurt for a long ti. Our two leaders can't beat so Phantom fast enough. Hmm, maybe that's good news."
Oddly enough, Grita agreed with him.
"Indeed. If he gets stronger, they can defeat Arnoth."
Risha stepped forward, pressing her palm to her chest. "But, Arnoth isn't the only problem, is it? There's also Kreyna."
"Sure," Grita smiled weakly. "That's why you should watch their fight closely. Once they're done, and Adam gets back to our plan, then we'll continue training."
There was no other choice. Risha herself wanted to see how the strongest of the resistance fought.
Her brother had always told her to keep an eye on the strongest. It was the only way and through battle that one could beco better.
'Hah, Orel is right as always. I don't know if it's true, but I already feel like I've beco better.'
Crackle.
At the sa ti, Adam gripped his sword tighter, leaning forward. He was ready for another surge, unafraid of the two serpents.
The wreath on his head was already half full. True, they had only made a few attacks, but one Vorx's ray contained arrays of energy.
Quiet and still, Silvana's voice echoed in Adam's head.
'I don't know what you're up to, but it looks like you're going to fight until you win as always, right?' she smiled weakly.
'No.'
Adam's sharp reply stumped her.
'Agh...?'
'It's different this ti,' he narrowed his eyes. 'Now I'm going to fight until I lose. That's exactly what I lacked at the beginning of my path.'
Silvana's lips parted quickly, asking questions, but Adam didn't hear her anymore, he threw himself back into the fight with no intention of stopping.
Ti after ti, he swung his sword, attacking the two strongest serpents left after the sad death of the king and queen.
Treating Adam as a mortal enemy, Vorx and Heret fought to the limit.
All the power of their massive real bodies was compressed into human forms, offering them impressive speed and strength. Like shadows wielding flas, they circled Adam in a violent dance.
A hail of blows rained down on him, but the Stellar Resonance, his vast experience, and the Second Order helped him avoid most of their punches.
Then, Heret's silhouette shuddered when Vorx appeared in front of Adam alongside him.
"Well lad, after opening the third gate, you're much stronger now, but I know what to do against you! I have experience! Hahaha!" Vorx pounced on Adam with one hand clutching his sword tightly and with the other plunging his fist into Adam's stomach.
Adam gasped in pain.
"Gha!"
Yet, there was nothing he could do to stop Vorx. The serpent wouldn't let the sword touch him, continuing to attack in one spot.
Adam frowned, trying to get out of Vorx's grip, but all was to no avail. Adam's trump card, petrification was useless against Vorx, he tried it out.
And...
At the sa mont, all the thorns on his wreath shone brightly. His artifact gathered enough energy to unleash a force of lightning at Vorx.
"That's it!" Adam exclaid furiously, raising his left arm upwards.
All the energy from the wreath, in two spinning streams, headed towards his tightly clenched fist.
As was the nature of Adam's Foundation Artifact, it could release its power in any form Adam desired, without strict limitations. If need be, the core of the lightning could be a simple fist.
Gritting his teeth, Adam looked Vorx up and down. "You almost died from that attack last ti, but now... I'm much stronger!"
The purple electric discharges shuddered as he brought his fist down on Vorx.
With a fleeting, slight smile, Vorx's figure shuddered as he let go of Adam's sword. In a heartbeat, he bounced back, dissipating in the light of distant crystals.
Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.
The lighting blast shattered the ground in a spreading purple sphere, electrical discharges destroyed the crystals and struck the ground covering the surface with smoking cracks.
Shards flew off to the sides, one passing close to Risha's cheek, a light cut opening on her dazed expression.
A crater several ters in radius was left by Adam's fist, rocks rolling off the edges under his heavy, ragged breath.
Thump.
Vorx dropped to one knee, blood gushing from an open wound on his right side. One of the discharges grazed him, yet his gaze was confident, almost serene.
"Adam..." his low voice bood out. "Before it's too late, look to your right."
"W-What...?" Adam flinched, turning his head in a twitch.
Green flas shone in a sparse, dark spot at the Magma Plateau. Heret stood among the shadows, while his fierce flas condensed around his hands thrust forward like spears.
The ti that Vorx won him was more than enough to prepare.
"Boy, you've caused a lot of trouble, but I'm grateful to you," Heret wheezed, his aura raging like a wild beast. "It's been a long ti since Vorx and I had such good practice, but it's ti for you to go back to the original plan!"
Faster than Adam could imagine it, Heret stepped off, transforming into streams of erald fla demolishing everything in its path.
He stepped backward, trying to dodge the inevitable.
Crackle.
Heret swept through Adam, leaving two burning lines on his chest and a rapidly emptying gaze.
Wind currents mixed with green sparks tossed Adam aside to lie amongst the shattered crystals.
Hot blood poured down his back while the fire quickly extinguished, leaving no burns but deep cuts.
"Gha..." he wheezed as the crimson sword shattered into pieces.
One ability after another was canceled under Adam's slow heartbeat.
But, he had sothing else left.
It wasn't his trump card, but his beginning - the first power he had gotten to fight monsters and survive.
He entered his inner space, looking at the first branch of the Evolution Tree, the one containing his First Order.
"All that's left is you, right?"
A spectral replica of his needle appeared in Adam's hand but in its original form.
"Either I'm right, or I'll have to listen to them and go back to the plan... Hah," Adam smiled bitterly. "If the needle isn't my beginning, then what is?"
Then, he opened his eyes, slowly rising from the ground. Blood dripped from his body but his grip around the needle was tighter than ever.
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