Vorx and Heret exchanged glances. Even though Adam had already used all of his abilities and was now in a much weaker form, they remained tense.
Sothing in his gaze and needle kept them from breathing a sigh of relief and accepting what seed to them to be a clear victory.
"It's... Heret, you feel it too, right?" Vorx glanced at his friend.
Heret nodded deeply. "Yeah, I can't shake the feeling that he's been waiting for this mont. Did he want to stay against us with only one ability? But... Why?"
Oddly enough, Vorx was sure he knew what the reason was, at least one of them.
"He's in a dead end," Vorx wheezed, flas covering his hands. "Considering the strain it put on his body to use all of his abilities at once, this is his last resort. Either he accomplishes what he wants with that needle, or he loses with no chance of changing the outco of the fight."
"I see... Damn, did he purposely put himself in the position of a beast driven into a corner? Well, this is the first ti I've seen such a Phantom, yet..." Heret shook his head. "An unusual plan does not guarantee you victory. With that needle alone, he can't handle even one of us."
Whoooooosh.
Adam leapt forward like a ghost, finding himself between them. In a wide sweep, he brought the needle down on Heret, but... a serpent was in no hurry to dodge, no longer needing to act at his limit.
With a calm gaze, Heret smoothly stepped aside, the silver needle swept to his left.
Without all his abilities and the Stellar Resonance, Adam simply couldn't be as fast as Heret, one of the strongest serpents of the ring castle.
Unfortunately for Adam, Heret wasn't his only opponent.
Bam.
Vorx's fist plunged into his stomach, throwing him backward. Before Adam's feet could touch the ground, Vorx leaped forward, catching him in flight.
"This has gone too far. If your whims continue, nothing but defeat awaits us!" Vorx exclaid, unleashing a hail of blows on Adam.
Out of his last strength, Adam tried to block Vorx's fists, but his weapon simply couldn't withstand the brutal flas and Vorx's sharp claws.
His needle wasn't strong enough.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
Shard after shard fell from the needle's blades, making the great weapon smaller and smaller until it returned to its original size.
Vorx's pupils narrowed as he made one last lunge, about to destroy Adam's needle and end this pointless fight.
But...
"Agh?" Vorx's eyes went wide in disbelief.
Adam's needle didn't want to break.
'No! I have to try again. I just had bad luck!'
Countless Vorx's attacks rained down on Adam, he could only block a fraction of them, receiving many cuts and bleeding wounds all over his body.
However, no new cracks or damage appeared on his needle.
This made Vorx wonder. He didn't realize what he was doing wrong. The final part of their fight was a mystery to him.
'Wait... I only noticed it now,' Vorx muttered, looking at Adam's needle. 'It's not tal or blades, this needle is made up of interwoven threads. If they're all as strong as the ones Adam can create, then... I'd rather break my claws than damage his needle!'
Depriving Adam of the needle was not the only way to win, Vorx realized that.
Tremble.
With a slight shudder, he leaped forward, gripping Adam's neck in a lock with his right hand. Vorx threw Adam over himself, slamming him into the ground like a puppet.
A stream of blood gushed from Adam's mouth, his back was on fire from the burning pain. His bones were ready to break at the next snap, yet he was still ready to keep fighting.
"Adam, that's enough," Vorx uttered sternly as he grabbed Adam's wrist and tossed him up.
Then, he glanced at Heret, nodding deeply.
Heret responded in kind, turning into a flash of green fla. In a heartbeat, he found himself in front of Adam.
The last thing Adam saw was the green flash, then he crashed to the ground like a teorite, bleeding heavily.
Tap.
Heret landed next to Vorx, their gazes more serious than ever.
"We can't go on any longer," Vorx clenched his fists. "Otherwise, this young man might die. We didn't hold back our strength."
"Don't worry," Heret put a hand on his shoulder. "We did it to enlighten him. After such a clash against us. Hah, I don't believe he'll get up in the next few hours."
In a way, Heret was right.
Adam didn't really have the strength to get up and continue fighting. He was too exhausted for that.
"Gha..." Adam wheezed, struggling to raise his right arm.
Drops of blood fell one by one onto his exhausted face, the colors quickly leaving, making his skin pale.
All Adam could see was how brightly his needle shone, the only star amid the vast night sky.
"Hah... I can't move. The fourth gates haven't even trembled once... Have I made a grave and so painful mistake?" he whispered.
No, it couldn't be true.
At that mont, there was not a hint of arrogance in Adam's gaze.
Deep inside, he knew that his needle was shining brightly for so reason, wanting to show him what he felt but couldn't see.
"Well, if I can't see it, why am I torturing my eyes with this beautiful light?"
Adam closed his eyes as darkness engulfed him, but... he was not going to his inner space. His path lay sowhere deeper, where he had been only a few tis trying to break through his past barriers.
He found himself in the core of the Evolution Tree, only he could be here and see the processes going on in the background.
"So..." Adam muttered. "Is it ti for even you to change?"
White runes floated among the darkness, they ford two elongated figures, bending and moving upward like branches.
White pulses ran up and down, along the spectral branches like the veins of a human, transmitting not only dense energy but also knowledge.
This was the essence of his two orders, both derived from the first version of his Initial Gene.
They were ready to change, waiting only for an order.
Everything depended on Adam's will.
User Comments
0 comments from readers