Chapter 1229: Desire of Beyond

Silvana watched from the sidelines, seeing the Path Construct in action for the first time, as did Adam himself. She was one of the most important parts of Adam’s power, but rarely took an active role.

In the past, Adam always had to go through this alone.

‘Unbelievable…’

Silvana muttered as she watched the fire form into a circle in front of Lone Blaze, how it completely changed under Adam’s energy.

Not only did Lone Blaze’s flame color change, but her appearance as well. Her clothes changed color from red to amber and white, and now, among her once-bright red hair, there were almost no scarlet strands, almost everything had turned white.

Adam was just as shocked. When Lone Blaze first became his External Artifact, he didn’t expect it to come to this, but this wasn’t even her final form.

Step.

Knowing what he had to do, Adam stepped forward, accepting the flame circle from Lone Blaze. Until he did so, the evolution of his Initial Gene and Lone Blaze would not be complete.

Whoooooosh.

At the same moment, the circle split into two streams, heading toward Adam’s hand. The flame turned into two rapidly spinning discs that found their place above his hands.

[Threads of Forgotten Hope

Sometimes a story could change so much that it practically disappeared, but as long as there was at least one soul strong enough to remember it, the story and its owner would never vanish from this world.

You have become the one who knows this story, about the ally who gave everything to become part of your power. This is your blessing and reward, as well as your oath that you will use this power to achieve nothing but triumph.

Your abilities have become one with Lone Blaze’s abilities, creating something that takes into account both of your stories.]

“Wow…” Adam gasped in shock.

When he saw the Dual Demon Sword, he decided that it would be the main change in his powers, but he was wrong.

He still had to learn what his new ability was capable of, but one thing became clear to Adam—his needles were once again his only weapon, or were they…?

At the same time, the light disappeared from Lone Blaze’s eyes as she lost consciousness.

On reflex, Adam caught her, even though she couldn’t take damage in his inner space. She would have just floated in the void.

“Are you okay?” Adam asked as her eyes slowly returned to normal, to their red color, unlike her hair and clothes.

Lone Blaze glanced at the discs above Adam’s hand and nodded weakly.

“Yes, something like that… It was hard and exhausting, but also quite interesting. Hah, I never thought I’d get to this stage with some Phantom. It wasn’t in my plans, at least not before…”

Adam smiled faintly, helping her to her feet.

“Well, I guess we should thank the Path Construct for choosing a gentler way for you.”

“Hah, I guess you’re right. Speaking of which…” Lone Blaze glanced ahead. “You got two new abilities, but after rewards always come new trials, right?”

Adam turned around. He immediately understood what she was talking about.

The First Grand Star shone brightly, wanting to show its importance and greatness, while several minor stars around it did not claim its place.

But there was something else visible in the darkness.

From time to time, pulsations ran along a line from the First Grand Star to the next one above it.

Step. Step. Step.

Like a moth flying toward the sun even though it knew it would burn, Adam headed toward the Path Construct, wanting to know what awaited him next.

Soon, Adam stopped in front of the Path Construct. Silvana and Lone Blaze exchanged glances. In an instant, Adam forgot about them as if they weren’t there, and that wasn’t far from the truth.

Now, he had to make another choice, and only he had the right to influence it.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

The Path Construct directed a thick darkness forward, hiding Adam from Silvana and Lone Blaze’s gaze. Even the Evolution Tree had no way of knowing what was happening under the dome.

Usually, after the Phantom created the First Grand Star, he had to make the next choice.

As with the first star, the situation was unique for each Phantom. Some had only two stars to choose from, while others might have had four or even five.

Adam was one of those Phantoms who had more choices than usual when he chose the first star.

But… now he was watching a completely different picture.

Seven stars.

Seven stars hovered before him, receiving light from the First Grand Star, but… in reality, Adam didn’t have seven options.

No, now he had fewer choices than he did at the very beginning.

Among the seven stars, one was slightly brighter and shone brightly from time to time. Adam couldn’t know for sure what it meant, but he was almost certain of his theory.

“Damien said that if the Phantom made a mistake, one wrong move could break his Path Construct. As I understand it, in most cases that meant the end of evolution, but… For some reason, I’m sure this can’t be a mistake.”

Sure, Adam understood how great the risks were, but he had to make a decision if he wanted to have even the slightest chance of reaching the top and stopping the World Wipe.

With no doubt in his eyes, Adam pointed to the pulsating star.

He had made his choice.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

A tremor ran through the seven stars, causing them to shake more and more violently until they all disappeared into the thick darkness, all except one.

[Second Grand Star (Star 7#)

Dark Heart: 0/1

Connected Heart: 0/1

Desire of Beyond: 0/1]

Instead of the complete shock like the first time, a satisfied smirk appeared on Adam’s face.

Deep down, he knew there would be something like this among the conditions, because when he defeated Bathild, the conditions changed.

“But… Desire of Beyond?” Adam raised an eyebrow, looking curiously at the new condition. “Hah, that wasn’t there before, and it sounds pretty threatening. Well, Bathild definitely won’t be my greatest enemy, so that was to be expected!”

The first star was ready, now it was time to take the next step toward the mysterious constellation.