Endless Evolution: Last Star

Chapter 43  The Tragedy of the Rusty Gears

The fighter jet took off from Fort Norton quickly, heading towards Rusty Ruins. Right behind the fighter, two helicopters headed out in accordance with the special mission.

The helicopters couldn't catch up with the fighter, but there was no need to because Adam wouldn't jump right onto Iron Alley, because that would be suicide. His goal was to get to the north of the Rusty Ruins - and follow the pre-determined route to reach his goal. With information from the mission department and Silvana's help, Adam could easily make his way through the rusty structures straight to Iron Alley.

His Beginning Monster couldn't go missing, for in a way they were constantly in contact and sensing each other as they awaited the fateful battle. They were in the same position - if Adam won, he would become stronger, if Beginning Monster won, it would become stronger. The reward was one - power, the punishment the same - death.

Due to Adam taking the Golden Mission solo, he had already reached his limit. Without defeating the Beginning Monster, he couldn't destroy the chains as well as improve his Artifact or Nexus. Evolution Tree and Initial Gene obviously couldn't grow with Lock covered in chains.

"Ready?" Pilot asked in a serious voice.

"Yes. It's time to move on." Adam pronounced, opening the hatch.

"Good luck. I hope I'm not going back to the Citadel alone tonight." The pilot uttered, gesturing with a wave of his hand away from his head.

Then, Adam jumped off and after a few dozen meters, opened his parachute. Unlike Damien, he could not fall from a height of several hundred meters without damage.

Adam landed next to two tall rusty buildings, dropped his parachute, and looking at the NEP headed forward.

From time to time, he had to change his route or wait in one place longer than expected. Silvana kept him informed of all the movements of the nearest monsters, she got information from the cameras on the helicopters that hovered over the area.

'Damn... This place actually looks more dangerous than the Scorching Desert... I never thought I'd say this, but I'd like to return to the desert now.' Adam pondered, looking down from the top of the building at a long troop of mechanical monsters.

The monsters were made up of rusted metal, gears, pistons, and engine parts. It was a mix, but a balanced one, not a pile of junk but a deadly construct.

A squad of massive monsters with wide arms, covered in rusty pipes, moved confidently forward in a single row. With each step, streams of vapor emerged from the valves on their heads, slowly spreading into the air.

'It's all right. You can move on. They won't notice you since they've only just started their route east.' Silvana calmly said.

Adam nodded and jumped down, flying through empty floors where maybe other Phantoms had once been.

Building after building, street after street, turn after turn, Adam approached a place with tall pillars, their sharp peaks pointed skyward.

'Are you sure you're ready? You can wait a few more minutes if you need to. Once you meet your Beginning Monster, there will be no turning back.' Silvana said sternly.

"Well... I won't lie, I'm worried, but the longer you delay the inevitable, the more anxiety builds up. Only one of us will be leaving Iron Alley tonight, either me or him."

Then, Adam stepped out from behind the building and, after a few steps, strode onto the metal platform that made up Iron Alley. At the same moment, Adam's calm gaze swept forward directly to the same serene gaze that was already watching him from the other end of the alley.

"Here you are... Brass Puppet..." Adam muttered, looking at his Beginning Monster. For some reason, he knew the name of his opponent immediately, the information just appeared in his head. Brass Puppet as any Crown Monster, only had two arms, legs, and one head. He was a little over two meters tall.

A dense, solid layer of brass covered its mechanical body, which was made up of many parts fastened with levers, rods, and gears as if they were imitating human cartilage and tendons. Three rusty blades like metal feathers emerged from Brass Puppet's shoulder, and on his head was an ugly crown of seemingly molten copper wires, with pointed spikes.

In Brass Puppet's chest was a complex clockwork mechanism consisting of many cogs of different shapes and sizes, occasionally moving and making the engine that hid behind them tremble - like a heart.

Brass Puppet stepped forward and pointed his weapon at Adam - a massive rusty key with a long pointed blade. On his left arm were several large gears with pointed edges like ninja shurikens.

Adam nodded, smiled slightly, and his eyes shone brightly.

Hundreds of silver, indestructible threads merged together, and the sharp end of the long needle aimed at the fateful enemy. Then, the main stage of the mission began, and dozens of red dots from the lasers fell on Brass Puppet. In no time, every military man took a shot. Dozens of massive projectiles surrounded Brass Puppet, exploding and releasing outwards any metal corroding acid and strong electrical discharges.

Sure, it couldn't kill Brass Puppet, the monster wouldn't even be harmed, but it should slow him down and give Adam a much-needed advantage.

Adam's gaze grew serious, he stepped forward, about to attack.

However, he stopped abruptly, waves of shivers going through his body.

Whoooooooooooooosh.

Brass Puppet swung his key, cutting through the green-blue veil of acid and electricity. Then, Brass Puppet lunged forward, towards one of the pillars and pulled it out of the ground with one hand.

Before anyone had time to realize anything, Brass Puppet threw the pillar, like an ancient warrior with his spear. The force and speed were so great that the pillar pierced one of the helicopters like a lightning strike, blasting it with most of the soldiers.

"No! I am your opponent!" Adam exclaimed in a rush, trying to draw the monster's attention to himself.

However, Brass Puppet didn't give in to the provocation even though he heard Adam, which was clear from the monster's quick glance in his direction. It was as if Bruss Puppet was saying - 'Wait until I deal with the unwanted onlookers.'

"Retreat! Maintain fire!" Elda exclaimed, giving orders.

Despite the situation and the already considerable casualties, she remained serious. After all, she was an experienced military officer and understood the risks involved.

"Commander, what about the others?" One of the military exclaimed.

"Commander...?" The man muttered with wide-open eyes. His face quickly turned pale from the sight of blood trickling down from Elda's decapitated neck. A gear with sharp edges stuck in the wall of the helicopter right behind Elda.

Elda's head flew off to the side, spinning in the air while other gears flew behind her, turning the second helicopter into nothing, as well as the lives of the soldiers.

Adam couldn't take his gaze off Elda's head, whose empty eyes were staring straight at him, as if he were the culprit or... as a hope?

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The helicopters reached the ground, exploding with scarlet flames and becoming just another iron wreck among countless others in the Rusty Ruins. Only dark blood was the sign of this tragedy until it faded away.

'Adam, the main thing is not to panic! Giving in to your emotions and desire for revenge is the worst thing you can do! Three deep breaths!' Silvana said quickly, realizing the state Adam was in.

However, he didn't answer anything.

His gaze was calm and cold, there was no trembling or panic, just a slight grimace representing whatever was going on inside him.

"Agh... I warned them... Shouldn't they be more experienced than me and realize what a Crown Monster fighting as a human is capable of?" Adam shook his head with a deep sigh. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Fine, I'll be more persistent next time, if they don't value their lives, then I'll do value them... Because, tonight, I'm getting out of here alive!" Adam exclaimed, as electric shocks covered his legs.