Endless Evolution: Last Star

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Adam knocked on the door.

The wait didn't last long and in less than a minute the door opened. Adam was a little surprised as he usually had to wait a few minutes for Silvana to get herself ready to meet him. It was her little ritual that she always followed.

It seemed that Silvana wasn't waiting for Adam at all, that someone else was supposed to arrive around this time.

Crackle.

The door opened, as Adam and Silvana met eyes.

"A-Adam...?"

Silvana muttered nervously, not expecting to see him at all. Her hair was disheveled, and instead of a formal strict suit, she was wearing a loose top and casual short shorts.

Sure, she looked a little unusual, but her sloppiness was cute and even attractive, it was just that Adam only saw her like this once, and for Silvana, it was a real tragedy.

She was too serious about how she should look in front of Adam.

Adam wanted to say something, but... at the same moment, another man came to Silvana's door. He was glancing around, checking where the right apartment was. On his back was a large square backpack, a distinctive yellow color so it would be noticeable from afar.

"Excuse me." The man walked beside Adam and glanced at Silvana's apartment number.

Then, he gazed at his phone and his eyes widened, realizing it was the right spot.

"Hello, is your order number 349?" The man asked, pulling a paper bag with a few burgers and a soda out of his backpack.

Silvana bit her lip, she was starting to get nervous. Her lips came into motion as she uttered: Step.

Adam stepped forward and carefully took the package from the delivery man's hands.

"Yes, thank you for your work." Adam said quietly, stepping ahead of Silvana.

The courier nodded and moved on. He didn't have time to talk, he had several more orders to deliver, some of which were in this house.

"Well, well, so burgers and sodas?" Adam pronounced, lifting the package and looking at it appraisingly.

Then, he cast a glance at a confused Silvana.

"What about healthy eating and homemade food?"

"This... There must be some kind of mistake! I didn't order anything like this!" Silvana tried to excuse herself, but it was a pathetic attempt that failed to convince anyone.

Adam smirked, reading Silvana's order on the receipt.

"Blue cheese burger with double bacon, triple patty burger, pulled pork burger, two bottles of soda. Damn, you clearly weren't gonna hold back."

Step.

Adam stepped up close to Silvana, their foreheads almost colliding with each other.

"There's no need to hide it. I don't care what you're wearing or what you look like. The most important thing is that you're here. But... I forbid you to drink soda." Adam said confidently.

Silvana gulped.

"Uh-is that like a punishment...?" Silvana blushed slightly.

Adam shook his head, raising his left hand. Silvana's eyes went wide at the sight of the rare coffee in the bag. There were several packs, most of this coffee Silvana was well aware of, but she never tried it since it was too expensive.

If she wanted to she could buy herself some of what was in the bag, but... her rationality wouldn't allow her to spend that much money on just coffee.

"No, though if you want you can count it that way. I bought this for you. I hope you like it." Adam uttered, glancing at the bag of coffee before stepping forward, and entering Silvana's apartment.

He wasn't surprised to see a complete mess, as he realized from Silvana's appearance that she used her free time to relax to the fullest.

Was Adam against such a thing?

Well, he wasn't going to judge Silvana. On the contrary, it would be easier for him if she didn't worry about every little thing in her appearance, behavior, and so on.

Bam.

Adam collapsed on the bed, stretching out his arms and legs like a star. Oddly enough, Silvana's bed wasn't made, and the pillows were scattered to the sides.

Crackle.

Silvana closed the door and took a quick step to the bathroom, taking her makeup kit with her.

"Freeze."

Adam said serenely. His voice was calm, but rather harsh, leaving Silvana no choice but to stop.

Then, Adam rose from the bed and headed for the kitchen.

"Come on. Don't you want to try the coffee I bought? Burgers and coffee aren't the most popular combination, but I think we'll be satisfied." Adam waved his hand.

Silvana nodded silently. She felt a little strange, since in her mind, she as an Operator was not supposed to look inappropriate in front of her Phantom.

Anyway, Silvana was right, but they were on their break now and Adam was completely fine with the way Silvana looked, whether she was in her house clothes or her usual strict formal suit.

That was the problem with her idea of how their relationship should work. Sure, they had done some serious work in the past few months since they had met, but there was no limit to the changes.

"Thank you..." Silvana muttered opening the most expensive packet of coffee. She glanced at it many times in stores but hesitated to buy it as she realized it was beyond her financial means.

Adam smiled weakly.

"I'm glad you liked it. So... What did you do for those two days?" Adam asked out of simple interest.

Silvana tried to give the most serious face possible.

"Well, I've been doing a lot of things..." Silvana coughed not knowing what to come up with, "I was just having a good time, you could say that."

Adam nodded. He was fine with that answer, he didn't need to hear more.

Splash.

The black liquid filled two small cups with a little brown foam on top.

Since it was a quality and expensive coffee, Silvana decided to use it to make the classic that every coffee lover in the world respected - espresso.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

It was definitely not the kind of coffee that would appeal to a novice or inexperienced one, but Silvana was able to appreciate the pure flavor and aroma of expensive coffee.

Adam was not advanced in this matter as much as Silvana was, but he realized that this was the best way to use such coffee.

"Ah... What a flavor..." Silvana muttered, taking her first breath.

Adam raised an eyebrow, assessing Silvana's reaction.

'Well, the smell is actually pleasant, but I'm even scared to taste it.' Adam inwardly said looking at the black liquid, he realized it would be really strong and bitter.

'Better the expected bitterness and flavor than something out of the blue though.' Adam smiled weakly.

...

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

Redcore Wolf's round crystal shone brightly, releasing outward a powerful blast that destroyed a steel floor several meters thick.

Glara, ready to block her opponent's attack, was baffled. She didn't understand why Redcore Wolf had done this.

Fragments of the events that had happened in the past few seconds flashed through her mind: She saw Redcore Wolf gathering energy in his core for a while, then he ran straight at Glara, but instead of attacking her, he stopped in the center of the room.

Then, directed the full power of the blast straight into the floor to create a massive hole.

Underneath this room were passageways located on the floor below, so... it looked like Redcore Wolf had decided to escape, at least that was what Glara thought.

'What...? Instead of trying to kill me with his trump card he just created a way out for himself?' Glara internally muttered as a shiver went through her entire body.

She realized that she would hardly catch up to Redcore Wolf if he ran away from her. Previously, the solid walls blocked any escape attempts, but now, Redcore Wolf could just jump into the hole.

Then, Glara turned her head and looked at Aiden and Gladius.

Aiden was a bit puzzled, he didn't seem to expect Redcore Wolf to do something like that. Meanwhile, Gladius kept a slight smirk on his face, enjoying the progression of the show in front of him.

Glara flinched as her face turned pale.

'What...? They're not going to stop him? He'll just run away now!' Glara exclaimed inwardly.

She realized that if she wanted to survive, she needed to act on her own. Thus, she quickly rushed forward, trying to catch up with Redcore Wolf who was not moving, he was in no hurry to go anywhere.

Only after a few steps, did Glara realize that there was something wrong with it, this whole situation didn't seem right since there was no logic in Redcore Wolf's actions.

This continued this way until Glara finally noticed black smoke coming out of a hole. She didn't see anyone in the passageway under the room, which meant that this smoke had traveled a long way here.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

The jets of smoke shuddered as several red pulses passed through them.

After a few seconds, the smoke became several times larger, turning into a thick cloud.

Redcore Wolf took a few steps to the side, not disturbing the cloud as it formed.

After only a few seconds, the cloud took on an elongated and curved shape and hundreds of sharp thorns like the dry branches of a creepy forest showed out.

Glara's eyes went wide when she saw in the fog two red eyes that stared intently at her as if she were their prey.

Her heart beat faster as she now had two opponents instead of one.

"What the hell...?" Glara muttered in disbelief as she looked at the Shadow of the Woods, the second monster on the list, the one she decided to ignore and pick the Redcore Wolf.

However... it was her decision to choose Redcore Wolf that led to the appearance of the Shadow of the Woods and its aura seemed to be much more intimidating, plunging Glara's heart into the depths of fear.