Endless Evolution: Last Star

Silvana won the game, Trici got a dragon statue, and Jena got a chance to spend time with Adam. Everyone was happy, moving on to where Hazel had gone earlier - the cosplay contest!

"Wow... They're so beautiful!" Trici muttered wide-eyed, looking around.

Men and girls had come here to show off their costumes and practiced moves. Most were parodying popular video game characters or Phantoms!

Many of the Phantoms had stand-out looks, clothes, fighting styles, and most importantly - abilities!

It didn't take Adam and the others long to find someone to cosplay Damien, even if it was a girl... To his surprise, Adam even found someone who cosplayed Erden, even though he was not in the Citadel but in Bastion Radon!

'I see... Regardless of where the Phantom is, if he's strong, killing monsters, performing feats to protect humanity, he'll be recognized even at the ends of the world. However, Second Rank Phantoms are less numerous than the others, so that's not surprising, right?' Adam pondered, looking for Alexia.

Soon, they saw her, standing next to a girl in a blood queen costume - a tight dress, scarlet wings behind her back, and a pattern of ever-flowing tears.

The girl had changed so drastically that Adam didn't even immediately realize who it was.

"Zera...?" Adam muttered, walking up to her. He still didn't fully believe it was her. Adam hadn't even assumed that Zera was into cosplay.

Zera turned around in surprise, but right after Adam, her gaze shifted to Jena. It only took them a moment to understand what was going on, and it seemed that lightning bolts of red and purple appeared between them, trying to suppress each other with a powerful discharge.

Adam got a strange look on his face. He hadn't expected this at all, or rather... he knew that such a clash was possible, but approaching Zera he was just glad to see her, nothing more.

Step.

Zera stepped forward, coming closer to Jena, almost right up to her.

"Hmm... A mere human, and you want to be the Naturalborn Phantom's girlfriend?" Zera muttered in a dangerous tone, "I hope you're not going to have sole rights to him?"

Jena gulped. She was a mere human, and Zera, a K1-Phantom. Moreover, like Adam and Alexia, Zera was also the Naturalborn One, otherwise she wouldn't have become the leader of one of the strongest K1-Squads under Crimson Path's patronage.

Sure, Zera wasn't as strong as Alexia. It was likely that Adam had already surpassed her. However, she was stronger than most K1-Phantoms, and for a valid reason.

Also, some of her abilities were specific, sometimes not very effective, and sometimes able to change the whole situation, like against Steel Knight. If it wasn't for her Second Nexus Trait, Adam wouldn't have been able to handle Steel Knight.

Zera couldn't show her maximum fighting potential like Alexia, who had all the traits adapted for a long battle, but she had her advantages.

Jena was nervous, but Silvana's glance was enough to make her remember how she had to act if she wanted to be in a relationship with Phantom.

"Why? You want to fight me for him?" Jena smirked slyly, "I knew from the beginning that it wouldn't be easy, but I'm not going to back down just because you're the Phantom and I'm not!"

Zera's eyes went wide, then she smiled slightly.

"I see. All I want is for you not to be his only woman. As a doctor, you should realize how important it is to increase the birth rate of strong Phantoms. I'll warn you right away, I'll be spending the night with Adam at some point, however, I wouldn't mind if you joined us."

Jena waved her hand.

"You can try."

Adam, who was listening to all of this, just shook his head.

Initially, both Jena and Zera had a strange stance on relationships, especially Zera. Adam wasn't at all surprised to hear her say that, since she was a member of the Crimson Path, so... her remarks might have been even more radical.

Soon, Adam's eyes went wide, as he realized that there was someone who was too young to listen to such conversations.

He turned to Trici and inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

Silvana, with a calm face, was standing behind Trici, covering her ears - she hadn't heard anything to begin with. Trici just looked around puzzled, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Girls." Silvana said coldly, looking at Zera and Jena, "I'm sure each of you has a chance at a relationship with my Phantom. However, you must not forget that only Adam decides whether he will have one woman, ten at once, or none at all. Also, at the moment, she is the only one among you who is equal in power to Adam."

Silvana pointed to Alexia, standing off to the side. It wasn't her first day as a Phantom, so she knew what the relationship between Phantoms and humans could be. Moreover, it was just as important that Adam was a male.

There were millions of people living in the Citadel. Men and women were equally numerous. However, this was only true among ordinary people or departmental employees, except for the military.

When it came to the Phantoms, there were slightly fewer men among them, insignificantly, a few percent, but, in numbers, it was thousands. It wasn't that Spark was more likely to show up in women, the odds were equal for everyone.

Men more often choose Nexus as a melee weapon or some sort of defensive option like a shield. Women were more likely to choose a ranged weapon, be it a magic book, bow, or staff.

Perhaps the reason for this was the men's temper and aggressiveness, or perhaps they just wanted to fulfill their childhood dream of being a knight with a sword and shield going forward against monsters.

Thus, men were more often in the vanguard. If the monsters turned out to be too strong and the mission failed, there were more casualties in the vanguard than in the rearguard.

Sure, it wasn't an absolute rule.

Owen had a shield, as well as Fred used a bow, while Ester and Alexia fought in close combat, risking getting injuries.

"Hmm...?" Adam raised an eyebrow as he and Alexia glanced over.

However, they didn't even blush as they realized they couldn't become a couple. Perhaps they could be a great fighting duo, battling against dangerous monsters, but not lovers.

Silvana removed her palms from Trici's ears.

"I missed something important, right?" Trici puffed up her cheeks, crossing her arms over her chest with a disgruntled face.

Adam frowned, glaring intently at Zera and Jena, for they were the ones who had started this.

Zera gulped, after her speech, it would be unfortunate to mess things up with Adam.

"Of course not!" Zera said spiritedly, smiling widely, "I was just practicing my character's lines. Would you like to hear it?"

Trici's eyes shone brightly.

"Sure!"

Adam smiled and walked over to Alexia.

"Hey, I didn't think you liked something like this. Did you come here for a particular thing?" Adam asked.

Alexia shook her head.

"Nah, I want to see the show though. It starts right now!"

At the same moment, on the main stage -

Wearing a battle outfit like a mechanical knight, a girl with gray hair and pale skin stepped forward.

Adam's eyes went wide, for it was Katrin. Moreover, another knight was coming to confront her - in dark armor and with long horns. It was Kody!