Endless Evolution: Last Star

Chapter 1789: Monster Nexus

Sano and Natta had been waiting for this day to come, the day they could fight the person who was important to Aiden.

Their goal wasn’t to impress Aiden or prove they were better than that person. They wanted to force Aiden to watch as they inflicted pain and suffering on the person Aiden himself had chosen for them.

They knew he had feelings too, and they wanted to see them reflected in his expression.

But Sano and Natta had overlooked one crucial detail: defeating this person might not be so easy after all.

Tap.

Adam touched Natta’s shoulder as the energy surged into his gloves, causing light to burst from beneath his palms.

Natta’s eyes widened in disbelief. She realized she should have dodged, but it was already too late.

THRUST!

The blood blast tore through Natta’s shoulder, leaving a wide hole in her flesh as if from a direct hit by a cannonball.

This attack ended his battle at the Grim Court with his victory. Zin couldn’t react and was practically dead the moment he lost his heart. If not for Zin’s unique abilities and the help of stronger monsters with healing abilities, Zin would be dead.

Could Adam have touched Natta’s chest and simply ripped out her heart?

Sure, even with Xyrea’s armor, neither Natta nor Sano had enough protection to block Adam’s attack. They didn’t have the resilience to survive something like that.

Thus, Adam didn’t try to end their fight right away.

He was curious to see what else Sano and Natta were capable of, since he had never seen such Nexuses before.

"Gha!" Natta gasped in pain as blood gushed from her mouth.

Immediately, she jumped aside, clutching her shoulder.

At the same time, Sano struggled to her feet, leaning on her sword.

"Agh... Agh... Agh..."

The girls were breathing heavily, staring intently at Evan as their enemy. There was no hatred in their gaze, but rather confusion.

They considered themselves hunters and behaved accordingly. Now, they looked at Adam like a predator who, to his surprise, had discovered that his prey was stronger.

However, they weren’t going to run away or give up. No. Now, their minds were readjusting, because if they continued to view Adam as just helpless prey, they would lose quickly.

Crunch.

Adam cracked his neck and knuckles.

"Alright, while you’re trying to figure out how to defeat me, I want to ask you something."

Sano narrowed her eyes.

"What do you want?"

Adam pointed at her sword. Its blade was still open, and the jaw was visible.

"What the hell is that? I’ve never seen such creepy Nexuses. They look like they came straight out of a nightmare! But..."

Adam touched his chin with a satisfied smile.

"I have to admit, your sword looks cool, Sano. If I’d seen a Nexus like that when I first became a Phantom, I’d have been willing to do anything to get a sword like that."

Natta bit her lip, barely enduring the pain of her open wound.

"You shouldn’t be asking us that, Adam." She growled.

Adam nodded, expecting that answer, and turned to Aiden.

"Got anything to say?"

Aiden waved his hand dismissively, looking bored.

"There’s nothing to tell here. I wasn’t the one who came up with these Nexuses. Almost no one has them now because they’re too dangerous. It’s called the Monster Nexus, nothing complicated."

Curiosity flashed in Adam’s eyes, and he wasn’t the only one. Silvana wanted to know about it, too. Not just because she was an Operator and used to gathering information.

After the events at the Primal Lands and her meeting with Goen and Arika, Silvana had accepted that a time might come when she would have to become Adam’s Nexus.

She was ready for it, but the more she knew, the calmer she felt. Now, with a new type of Nexus appearing before them, she had a multitude of questions.

Aiden continued:

"Long ago, many hundreds of years ago, many Phantoms had such Nexuses, especially when humanity hadn’t yet learned to create Nexuses and forges. All it takes for your Nexus to acquire monster traits is to use a monster’s blood and materials during creation, naturally along with your energy and other necessary components."

It had already been two years since Adam received his first Nexus. It happened in the first weeks after he became a Phantom, and everything unfolded just as Aiden had said.

Adam went to the forge, gave up some of his energy, and then the Citadel’s advanced technology did the rest of the work for him.

Sure, Adam knew that this was just one way to create a Nexus. Any Phantom could create a Nexus for themselves even in the field. All it took was a Phantom’s energy, their blood, and some starting material, as well as a lot of luck.

The most common scenario for creating a Nexus several hundred years ago was as follows: a Phantom fought monsters using a sword. That sword accumulated a Phantom’s energy over a long period of time and slowly changed, becoming stronger.

At a certain moment, a Phantom would find themselves in a critical situation, and a powerful burst of energy would occur, transforming that sword into a Nexus.

It didn’t necessarily have to be a sword. Any item would do, as long as the conditions were met.

Obviously, this was a dangerous, time-consuming, and inefficient method compared to the modern one. That’s exactly why all new Phantoms now receive the first version of their Nexus at the forges.

Adam raised an eyebrow.

"So you helped them create these Nexuses?"

Aiden shrugged.

"What can I say? It was part of our deal. They chose their monsters, got their blood and materials. I just monitored the process in the pod to make sure everything went right."

"I have a question!"

Suddenly, Silvana’s voice rang out from the side. Her expression made it clear she was nervous about interrupting their conversation.

"You said the Monster Nexuses are too dangerous and that’s why they’re banned. What exactly makes them dangerous?"

"Isn’t that obvious?"

Aiden gave her a cold look.

"If a Phantom is weak, a Monster Nexus will just devour him."