Endless Evolution: Last Star

Fume Armors gradually slaughtered all the monsters that were in Fume Cathedral. They didn't need their energy and weren't defending their territory, they were just following their new lord's orders.

Gradually, Oskar, Erla, and the others realized what Plague Reaper's plan was. This monster was too arrogant to use the strength of others to achieve victory.

Usually, arrogance led to problems and failure, but... that was hardly a threat to Plague Reaper. He was too strong, a little help from Fume Armors or monsters was insignificant.

In fact... He could have killed all those monsters in a couple of seconds, considering they were locked in a closed space. He probably would have done the same with the Phantoms, but Osana's ability protected them, so he couldn't just spread black air and kill them like he had done with Fog Hunter earlier.

Plague Reaper wanted to put up a decent fight. Only this way, Top-1, a monster at the top of the entire threat level, could get the much-desired satisfaction.

...

At this time, the mission department and the military were receiving new information from Golden Light Squad's Operators, thinking about how they could help them. Eventually, after the appearance of Plague Reaper, the situation completely changed.

However... they could hardly do anything, because even before Adam and the others went to Fume Cathedral, Douglas and the military department realized that Plague Reaper was moving towards them.

There were almost no places in Dead Lands that fighters couldn't reach, especially if they had a strong Phantom on board. In that case, the pilot had nothing to worry about, as the Phantom was ready to protect them and the fighter no matter what happened.

However, Plague Reaper made sure that this would not happen. He decided to head towards Fume Cathedral when he sensed that Scarlet Pyromancer, Gray Stalkers, and a group of Phantoms with curious auras had appeared near that place.

Also, even before that, he wondered what was going on there as the spatial anomaly activated several times. Plague Reaper was good at sensing any energy fluctuations, so it wasn't hard for him to figure out what was going on.

Plague Reaper was an experienced monster, so he realized that K3-Phantom would soon come to the aid of the weak Phantoms. Even Plague Reaper was unable to do anything against a creature of such strength.

Thus, Plague Reaper released a huge amount of black air saturated with death energy, directing those dark clouds upwards. They blended into the night sky, becoming practically invisible.

Sure, the K3-Phantom wouldn't be killed by such a thing, but to the pilot, it was deadly. In the time it took for the situation to develop and for Plague Reaper to reach Fume Cathedral, the black air had spread, already covering a wide area in this part of the Fallen Crypt quite far away.

Unlike most monsters who were afraid to go into higher-level areas, Plague Reaper had no such fear. He could travel through the Fallen Crypt with ease despite being a Purple Threat Level monster.

The Light Yellow monsters that faced him couldn't chase him away, they weren't strong enough to do so, and in most cases died within a couple of seconds of their encounter.

Thus, Plague Reaper was more familiar with the place than Golden Light Squad and was well aware of what he had to do so that no one could interfere with them, neither the Phantoms from the Citadel nor the monsters from the far reaches of the Fallen Crypt.

After all, there were enough monsters in the Fallen Crypt that could defeat Plague Reaper, they were just in other parts of the area.

...

'Damn... Plague Reaper, he's the worst K1-Phantoms could face. What's more, it happened at night in the Light Yellow Area, and he prepared properly. Shit, if we don't do anything, they'll probably die. It will be especially unfortunate to lose Adam and Osana, those two have a promising future.' Douglas pondered with a great frown.

Every now and then he tapped his foot on the floor and glanced at the screens where the camera images from their NEPs were displayed.

Douglas and the staff could clearly see how Plague Reaper stood in front of Fume Throne, how Fume Armors slaughtered the monsters like cattle, and how worried Lero, Erla, and Oskar were...

Most Phantoms didn't know about it as it wasn't much of a big deal, but the NEPs were relaying information about the Phantoms' heart rate. And... the calmest were Katrin and Osana.

Adam had an elevated heart rate, but not from fear or excitement like Lero, Erla, and Oskar, but from excitement. Earlier, he had feared Plague Reaper's strength, but in time he realized that his physical capabilities, given the enhancements, were enough to give a decent fight to such an opponent.

Douglas pondered what could be done since the fighter they had sent couldn't get close to the right place. Sure, K3-Phantom could get down and go on foot, but considering how wide an area Plague Reaper covered with his black air, that would take too long.

...

While the military and mission department workers were worrying and looking for options, and the Golden Light Squad was preparing to fight the strongest monster of their level, someone was doing something completely trivial.

Crackle.

The glass broke under the pressure, letting out some water that quickly dripped down into the sink next to the fallen glass shards.

"Shit... That's the third one. I didn't think it would be this hard..." Nessa muttered with a great grimace.

She was on top of Miracle Observatory, technically it was her and Magnus's home where they lived, often doing something trivial, especially recently.

Nessa was wearing simple house clothes, as well as an apron that was already seriously soiled. She did the cooking, but it was a practice for her, for she was not yet accustomed to her new powers.

Magnus sat nearby, in a chair, reading something on a tablet with a thoughtful look.

"Agh... Why is this so hard?" Nessa sighed heavily casting a glance at the broken glasses, bent knives, two crumpled pots, and many more things that couldn't withstand her strength.

Then, she turned to Magnus.

"Father, are you sure I should be doing this? Making this fucking pizza is harder than killing a Top-10 monster!" Nessa exclaimed irritably.

However... there was no response from Magnus, which meant she had to continue, even though she didn't feel like doing it at all. No matter how strong she was, Nessa was not going to challenge Magnus's decisions.

Moreover, she herself realized that it was important. To break a monster's skull or dodge an attack, all it needed was speed and strength, she had more than enough of that.

But... to slice small olives into pieces with a simple soft metal knife, that required precision and complete control over her powers.

In a few hours she could only chop the ingredients and prepare the dough, there were still many tasks ahead difficult for her, though a normal person would have quickly rolled out the dough and spread the ingredients with the sauce.

"Well, looks like we're going to have to postpone our dinner." Magnus said as a smirk appeared on his face.

"What?" Nessa raised an eyebrow with the hope that a more interesting task had come up for her.

"Let's go." Magnus said putting on his crimson coat.

Nessa tilted her head in confusion.

"Where to?"

Magnus chuckled evilly.

"To help Adam and fight the Top-1 Purple Threat Level Monster!"