Endless Evolution: Last Star

Chapter 1549: The old body

It was unknown what threats were coming their way, perhaps the ice worms, or maybe other monsters wanting to find out what was at the Frost Oasis. Now, neither barriers nor golems could stop them.

But all of that was nothing compared to what was happening in the last cave, by the pond.

Crack.

The dark shell of the egg flew to the side, revealing a long arm with short but sharp claws.

Under Adam and Alexia’s shocked gaze, the arm touched the top of the egg, digging its fingers right into the shell.

Crack. Crack. Crack.

The arm destroyed the top of the egg, and before Adam and Alexia could react, the second arm appeared.

Now, the two arms grabbed the edges of the gap, slowly pushing the egg apart.

It was like a lizard or snake trying to break out of its egg too early, and only the strongest ones were able to do it.

Alexia’s pupils narrowed as the arms tore the egg apart, raising a cold mist.

A tall shadow lurked behind the mist, which in the next moment took a step forward, slowly emerging from the veil.

The first thing they noticed was his height. The man standing before them was not as huge as the stone demons or golems; it was his human form, but even so, he was two meters tall and easily towered over Adam and Alexia.

His build was slim and athletic, no huge muscles, just pure power in a powerful body.

Long blue hair reached down to his waist, and two azure eyes outshone Adam and Alexia’s eyes with their light. It was a shade that was inaccessible to them, at least for now.

The man had no tail, no wings, nothing else that would indicate he was a dragon monster. The only exception was a few blue scales on his chest and wrists.

Calm, with a slight haughtiness, his gaze rested on his sharp face, with features more suited to a dark prince than an underground dragon.

Step. Step. Step.

Without saying a word, the man walked out of the already empty pond, the earth sinking with each of his calm but powerful steps.

A chill ran down Adam and Alexia’s spines.

They saw and thought the same thing. The man before them definitely had the potential to become a Lord, or... maybe he even was one, but was in a weakened state?

Soon, when the man climbed out of the pond, he slowly turned, looking first at Alexia and then at Adam.

For some reason, his attention was focused on Adam, even though Alexia was currently stronger than he was. She had fulfilled one of the conditions and found the Ancient Frost, but he still had to do it.

"You..." The man’s voice, still hoarse after waking up, rang out. "You are so young, both of you... You are not even thirty, and yet you possess such power."

It was true, but despite how it sounded, it did not seem like praise from their opponent.

It seemed that the man was just trying to figure out if it was the right decision to reveal himself now and remove all barriers for them.

"Now, seeing you, it definitely wasn’t a mistake. You reached this level of power at the end of the World Wipe. I must admit it’s impressive."

Step.

Alexia stepped forward, clenching her fist tightly.

"Who the hell are you? Answer me! Did you set up all these trials?!"

In response, the man nodded deeply as he touched his chest.

"Yes. My name is Vaarh, the Azure Eye. I made a contract with the Ancient Voice, and everyone who entered my domain became the other party to that contract. I think you should have understood that by now, shouldn’t you?"

Alexia smirked.

"The Azure Eye? What kind of silly title is that? Did you decide that the most special thing about you is the color of your eyes?"

She waved her hand, pointing to the gate in the distance.

"We passed all your trials and broke your rules! I don’t know what you want to do, but you should have done it before I got my new power!"

"No."

His calm but sharp reply made Alexia gasp.

"You didn’t break the rules. I opened the gate for you when I realized that the Ancient Voice couldn’t stop you. That was good news for me."

Alexia didn’t know what to say, but Adam had questions as well.

"Vaarh, right?"

In response, Vaarh just nodded deeply. Despite his threatening aura, he behaved like a patient interlocutor.

"If it were you who controlled the rules of this place, then why did you allow us to destroy the tree? Why is it good news for you that we progressed further than the others?"

"Those are foolish questions," Vaarh said coldly. "But I will answer them."

Then, he pointed to the azure tree, to the place where it had been.

"If you had died like everyone else during the trials, this tree would have absorbed you and, as a result, filled the barrier and the pond with energy. Yes, it would have made me stronger, but it would have been just a drop in the ocean."

Alexia’s face paled.

"Wait... That means this tree was just—!"

Vaarh nodded.

"The seal to the barrier. No matter how strong you are, you couldn’t destroy the barrier while the tree was functioning."

Adam’s expression became more serious. He understood why Vaarh had appeared before them instead of remaining behind the barrier.

’He decided that defeating us would be enough to evolve. It was a risk on his part because he lost the pond and the tree. But he’s right, if we had died, he would have only gained a tiny fraction of our power.’

The picture began to come together.

But Adam still had one more question, perhaps the most important one:

"This." Adam pointed at the dragon’s head. "What the hell is that?"

Vaarh slowly turned around.

"Oh, isn’t it obvious? It’s my real body, the one I used to have."