Endless Evolution: Last Star

Step. Step. Step.

To Douglas, who was standing in the middle of the spacious hall where dozens of people were working, ran the girl who had earlier informed him about what had happened to Adam, Katrin, and Golden Light Squad.

Just like last time, she was in a hurry and you could tell by the look in her eyes that it was something urgent.

"Mr. Douglas!" The girl exclaimed, her short brown hair tips quivering, sweeping in front of her blue eyes as she stopped abruptly and bowed low.

"Tia? Has something happened again? There have been too many incidents this night." Douglas frowned, once again expecting bad news.

The girl shook her head, trying to catch her breath as she quickly ran here to deliver the news as soon as possible.

"Mr. Magnus would like to meet with you."

Douglas raised an eyebrow in confusion.

'Magnus? What does that crazy guy want at this hour?' The thought raced through Douglas's mind.

Then, he nodded.

"Have him make an appointment. I think I can find some free time the other day to meet him." Douglas waved his hand.

Tia bit her lip, she looked away. It was obvious that she didn't know how she should have acted in this situation.

"Tia, is something wrong?" Douglas was puzzled. He understood that Tia was nervous.

"Just... Mr. Magnus is already here! I was going to ask him to wait, but he just walked inside!"

Douglas's eyes went wide for a moment before he nodded. If Magnus was this persistent, it was something important.

"Good. I'll be off then. Stay here and let me know if anything urgent comes up." Douglas said confidently, stepped forward, and touched Tia's shoulder with his powerful hand.

"Sure!" Tia exclaimed energetically.

...

Step. Step. Step.

Douglas's muffled footsteps spread down the empty passageway as he approached the door, opening it.

Inside he saw Magnus who had his legs tucked up on a table sitting relaxed. In front of him was a cup of hot tea and a few cookies, which he didn't touch.

If an ordinary man had behaved this way in Fort Norton when meeting Douglas, there would have been severe consequences, but... Magnus could afford such carelessness.

There were three other chairs next to the desk, unoccupied, which was odd, for behind Magnus stood Nessa. Now, she was in her office clothes that she wore all the time working at Miracle Observatory.

"Mr. Douglas, good evening!" Nessa said respectfully and bowed low.

Douglas said nothing, he only sat down at an empty chair and cast a quiet glance at Nessa.

"Well, well, how much respect for me, what simple and modest clothing for someone who could break me in two like a stick." Douglas sighed heavily.

Magnus and Nessa were not surprised by his words. Apparently, Douglas was one of those people who knew who Nessa really was.

"I would never attack you. This is unacceptable." Nessa replied confidently.

"Hah, what if Magnus had ordered you to?" Douglas smirked.

Nessa's eyes went wide, she went pale and bit her lip. She wasn't ready to answer that question.

"Alright, what did you want from me? I actually have tons of problems here without you. Adam, Katrin, and the Golden Light Squad are in the middle of a real crisis right now. I don't have much time." Douglas said seriously, crossing his arms over his powerful chest.

Magnus nodded.

"Yeah, I know. That's why I came here. I want Nessa to go there and help them defeat Plague Reaper."

Douglas tilted his head with narrowed eyes. He was surprised, not by the suggestion itself, but by the fact that Magnus hadn't realized it was impossible.

"You think we haven't sent them help yet? We did a long time ago, but Plague Reaper took care of that. There's no way a fighter pilot can safely get close to Fume Cathedral, it's just not possible." Douglas waved his hand with a heavy sigh.

Magnus grinned widely.

"Sure, but I'm not going to use the SH-01. I want Nessa to fly on the ..." Magnus said, causing Douglas to frown even more.

"Stop joking around. That arrogant bitch won't let us use it for a mission of this caliber. I wouldn't even mess with her, she'll just say no like she always does." Douglas snorted irritably.

Magnus nodded slightly, remaining completely calm.

"That's true, but I can negotiate with her. Just give me the opportunity and permission. Within the confines of my lab, I can do what I want, but I have no intention of ruining the plans of the military and the missions department." Magnus chuckled, leaving Douglas no other choice.

Douglas glanced at Nessa, outwardly she remained cold and calm, but there was a fire burning in her eyes. Douglas noticed it easily.

"What about her? As far as I know, Adam has seen her true identity, but the other Phantoms can't know about it." Douglas said seriously.

He could not allow Katrin, Osana, and the others to know of the existence of the hybrid, the only one in the entire Citadel.

It was a mystery far more serious than the information about the Naturalborn Phantoms.

Magnus waved his hand.

"Don't worry about it. After recent events, if the battle is serious, Nessa will be able to show something that will make the others think it's her ability. We'll just put the NEP on her wrist."

Douglas stared intently at Magnus and nodded. He realized that Magnus wouldn't let the other Phantoms know about this.

Douglas was more worried about them than Nessa, he knew that if any of the Golden Light Squad besides Adam realized that Nessa wasn't a Phantom, then Magnus would find a way to quickly kill them all to keep it a secret.

"What's more, I have a fake Phantom profile for her so their Operators won't guess anything." Magnus smirked, showing a flash drive, he also pulled out a small black box.

Before Douglas could say anything, Magnus opened the box, revealing a simple monster fang earring, clearly a decorative accessory.

"It's made from the scrap of a powerful monster's fang, so it won't break. Officially, it's Nessa's Nexus, which increases her physical power if she wishes. Sure, it's just a trinket, but only we'll know about it." Magnus's grin grew even wider.

Douglas nodded.

"Fine, do as you see fit. If you can get her to help us, that would be fine."

Magnus nodded, heading for the exit, and gestured for Nessa to follow him.

It was time for his curiosity and Nessa's desire to fight to change the fate of the Golden Light Squad.