Endless Evolution: Last Star-Chapter 555 Raising the Stakes (Part 4)

'Wait... Where did he go?' Silvana blinked a few times, realizing that Adam who just stood in front of her disappeared.

Gladius turned around, looking at Adam over his shoulder, a sly smirk remained on his face.

'Well, well, he's so eager to fight that he's not afraid to stand up to Zarot, Mariel, and Nirosh. I'm sure those three are ready to explode with anger right now. Hahaha, their looks... they'd like to kill him right here and now, but it's too late. Now, their strength doesn't matter at all.'

Gladius shrugged and headed over to a random table to grab another olive, there were still quite a few of them left on the plates.

'After all, that's the main advantage of The Rule of Power. No matter how powerful Zarot and Mariel are, they no longer decide anything. The fate of the wedding now depends on the mastery of two Phantoms that are much weaker than them.'

Pop.

Olive flew right into Gladius's mouth with a deft hand movement. It wasn't enough for him so he took another olive from the plate.

However, for some reason, the olive wasn't in his mouth after a second, although he did the same as last time.

Directing his gaze to the side, Gladius saw his lost olive, it was clutched between two fingers.

"They picked the best for the wedding, didn't they?"

Baren smirked before eating the olive with obvious approval on his face.

"Elastic, firm, and practically crunchy because of the distinctive sound when you break them, not to mention how juicy and delicious they are. I'm sure each olive like this was selected from a hundred other, worse ones."

Gladius looked at him with an appraising gaze.

"Yeah, I have to agree, at least they did something well."

Gladius didn't say anything about the stolen olive and simply extended his hand to his plate.

But, before he could take the tasty treat, the plate disappeared ending up in Baren's hand.

"You..."

Crackle.

Baren raised the plate above him and soon the mountain of olives was in his mouth, disappearing forever. Experience more tales on novelbuddy

"Damn! That was good!" Baren exclaimed, clenching his fists tightly with a satisfied face.

Gladius's eyebrow twitched and his smile turned dramatic.

"Hey... If you do that again, I'll make sure it's the last olives in your insolent life... No threats, just a friendly warning."

Had someone else been in Baren's place, he would have either run away or rushed to apologize, but there was no one else here.

"Hah, I figured as much, you wouldn't threaten a man with death over a few olives would you?"

Baren laughed before walking next to Gladius, patting him on the shoulder.

"Agh, no offense, consider me getting back at you for that flick to the chest. That was unexpected."

Then, Baren smirked, casting a glance at Gladius.

"And, you said a friendly warning...? Hah, we managed to become friends rather quickly. I didn't expect it."

Gladius only lifted his chin, looking at Baren with almost closed eyes.

"Well, it's too early to jump to such conclusions, but... I think you're one of those who will join 'us', the True Firstborn, in the future." Gladius said slowly emphasizing one particular word.

It seemed that he wasn't talking about any group or organization, but meant something larger and more broad, something that applied to all Phantoms regardless of their goals or positions.

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Baren shrugged, he took a deep breath and raised his eyes looking at the flag with his family's emblem.

"Don't make me remember that day. I, unlike those who talk about me as a True Firstborn, don't make a big deal about it. In fact, I'm just a Natural Phantom, even though I killed my first monster quite early."

Gladius let out a frightening chuckle.

"Just a Natural Phantom? If a Hallow Nobles heard you, their eyes would be filled with hatred and envy, not to mention the common people who don't even know about such Phantoms."

In response, Baren waved his hand and looked at Adam, who was talking about something with Zarot and Nirosh.

"He was chosen by my sister, so he's probably not simple either, right?"

Gladius's corners of his lips turned upward as he stared at Adam.

"Well, I won't say too much about him. But, there's something you should know. He, along with your sister and two other Phantoms, let's just say..."

Gladius coughed, remembering Nessa, who was only officially a Phantom on that mission.

"They killed the Plague Reaper."

Baren's eyes went wide.

Then, a bright regret appeared in his gaze as he clenched his fist tightly.

"Damn it! I wanted to fight him too, but there were too few of them! They come, kill hundreds of monsters and dozens of Phantoms, and disappear without a trace. Back then, I faster became a K2-Phantom than I had the chance to face Plague Reaper."

Gladius smirked, took a step back, and leaned on the table.

"Well, the Plague Reapers, unlike other monsters don't seek out opponents to fight simply because of their bloodlust. I can't know for sure, but I'm guessing that particular Plague Reaper didn't come there because of them, but because of the Fume Cathedral."

Baren raised an eyebrow before scratching the back of his head.

"Oh, right, you don't often find places like this in the territories for K1-Phantoms and below, there are very few of them unlike what's going on down there..."

Gladius nodded in confirmation.

"The Plague Reaper decided it was the right time for him to evolve and he used the energy of the Fume Cathedral to summon a Midnight Crystal. Hm, his plan worked, but he didn't even realize he would die at the hands of a Phantom, even though he'd already killed many of them."

Baren let out a short laugh, walking over to the appetizer table.

"He was outnumbered, though he was stronger. Quality is always better than quantity, but... in certain situations, quantity is a quality in itself."

Crackle.

Baren picked up a piece of square cheese from the table, set on a walnut and sprinkled with a trickle of honey, then looked at Adam.

"That's why 1-on-1 fights on the same level, can go down to the last drop of blood of each participant, and... it's wonderful!"